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UP THE YANG-TSE. 



BY E. H. I>-AlHK:EK. 



(reprinted prom the *china review.') 



WITH SKETCH MAPS. 



HONGKONG-. 

PEnmsB AT THE *Chika )tiiL' Officb. 

1891. 



CZl 2/^ ^5 



v/ 




/ HARVARD 
UNIVERSITY 
L'^RARY 
3?P 6 I960 



PRINTED AT THE * CHINA MAIL ' OFFICE, 
HONGKONG. 



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ERRATA. 



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CONTExXTS. 



Page, 
Tni Tako-tsb O0ROB8 AND Rapids in Hu-pei 1 

The Rapids of the Upper Tano-tse 20 

The ' Yade-meonm ' of the TniTeller through the Gorges 
of the Great Riyer 27 

Special Obeerrations 49 

A JouRNET ur North Sz Ch*uan, 52 

Nan-Ch*uan AND TUE Euno-t'an River 113 

Up the Kia-lino Riter 174 

The Great Salt Wells 21)4 

North EwEi Cnou 240 

The WiLi>s OF Hc-PEH 275 

S/. Cn'i-AN Plants ^01 

Index i 



PREFACE. 



In publishing this reprint, I have expunged useless 
matter to the best of my ability, and I venture to call at- 
tention to the Index, which has been compiled with care. 

E. H. Pabker. 
1891. 



•^ 



UP THE YANG-TSE. 



I. 

THE YAXG-TSE GORGES AND RAPIDS IN HU-PEI. 

At daybreak on the morning of the 24th of November, 1880, we 
fulled over uncomfortably in our beds as the noisy crew made 
preparations to start from I-ch*ang. Having had the advantage 
of reading Blakibton^s, Giirs, Rocher^s and others' experiences 
with Se-ch*uan boat-crews, we bad taken the precaution of 
arranging to sleep on board, and to have everything ready to start 
un the ivciiing of the 23rd, thinking that, with this prevision, we 
might at least count upon leaving some time, not later than 
midnight the next day. This hope was, however, the less 
sanguine in that the skipper had applied on the 21st for permis- 
sion to bubstitute 'noon' on the 24th for 'early dawn,' as had 
been dibtinctly stipulated in the contract. The necessity of draw- 
ing up a written contract has been touched upon by more than one 
traveller upon this route ; and, in endorsing their recommendations, 
we may add, specifically, that no particular form of contract 
appears to have been sanctioned by custom ; and, generally, that, 
in this as in all matters in China, the European voyageur may rest 
assured that, in every question which concerns his own comfort or 
interests, his own wits will pull him through better than any 
established native practice. In the present instance one distinct 
proviso was that we should start at daybreak on the 24th ; another 
that ten per cent, of the total boat-hire should be dependent in any 
ooM on the hirer's favour, and be certainly forfeited unless all the 



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Gorges and Rapids in Hu-pei. 3 

ffoar times daring the voyage, also, they get a ration of pork and 
fow], a treat known as shau thenfu or * roast to the gods/ which is 
moreover repeated as an extra encouragement to them from time to 
time at the expense of the skipper or the passenger, when they 
have succeeded in passing a dangerous rapid, or achieved any other 
exceptional success. Ahout six feet from the prow is rigged 
athwart-ships a powerful beam ; and connected with this by means 
of strong ropes is the main sweep, wtiich extends thirty feet or so 
ahead, and, worked by three or four men, has a powerful effect in 
veering the boat round in any particular direction. A similar 
beam is rigged athwart-ships in front of the mast, and in support 
of the mast, which runs up in front of the foremost passenger com- 
partment. Side sweeps, worked by eight men apiece, move on 
short stanchions attached to this latter beam. 

Behind the mast are the passenger cabins, each about ten or 
twelve feet square, by eight high, with the exception of the fourth or 
hindmost, which is not so deep fore and aft as the other three. The 
foremost we use as a sitting, dining, and guest room ; the second 
as a bedroom ; and the otlier two as store and servants' rooms : when 
carpettcd or covered with sheep&kin rugs, these compartments can 
be made very tolerably comfortable. Beneath them are the bulk- 
heads, in which the traveller's ba^^^ago is packed, each compart- 
ment being separate, and as far waterti^^ht us any Chinese-made 
compartment can be. Behind is a sort of after deck, which can be 
covered in with mats like the forward deck, and which, besides 
being what may be called the tilkr-room, can also be used for 
passengers* cooking, servants' promenade, and general misoellaneous 
purposes. Sloping up again behind this is the poop, a mysterious 
region, protected by doors, in which the skipper and his harem 
dwell. The sail is the usual ragged atfair, with bamboos in place 
of reefs, and the mast-head serves besides to bear the strain of the 
tracking rope, being relieved, however, by a second line passed 
loaod two cat-heads fixed perpendicularly in front of the second 
thwart-beam. The tracking is usually done with the /et-ton, or 
'flying hawser,' a bamboo aff'air of two strands: the next-sized 
hawser is called the erh-hsmg-tan, or * seoond-go hawser ;' and the 
largest, only used at the most dangerous rapids, the iiO'tattf or 
* sitting hawser.' From a book published by Rear- Admiral Ifo 



4 Up the Ta?i£'fse. 

Chin-shen* called the IJsitig Ch^uan Pi J'an, or the * Sz Ch'nan 
Traveller's Vade Mecum^^ we have gathered a number of 
valuable local terms which we shall give in the narrative. At 
l-oh'ang we exchanged visits with his Excellency the AdroiraL 
and found him a personage of great frankness, and anxious to do all 
in his power to oblige. We are indebted to him amongst other 
things for a hung ehUiaUt or * red-boat,' a handy little sampan 
manned by a naval lieutenant and live stalwart braves, which 
follows or precedes us alternately all the way, and makes 
itself generally useful, whether in assisting trackers to dis- 
engage their line, in carrying them to and from the shore, or in 
rendering small services to ourselves, whom it is commissioned to 
protect and to escort as far as Wu-shan on the frontiers of Sz 
Ch*uan. The dilatory deputy who was sent down by the Sz Ch*uan 
authorities to assist our boat up to Ch*ung-k*ing has not put in an 
appearance yet : he himself, together with his reasons, will doubt- 
less turn up some time or other, when it is to his advantage to be 
to the front. 



CHAPTER IL 

After tossing uneasily, alternately too hot and too cold, in 
a superfluity of blankets, I rose to see how far so much yelling 
and straining had brought us, thinking that we must at 
least have arrived at the mouth of the Ich*ang gorge, which 
is only three miles from the city. I found, however, that two 
hours vigorous yuloing with the two hide sweeps had only brought us 
half a mile along the left-hand bank ; another half hour's drifting 
and pulling took ua to the other side, near the river-otterf 
fisheries, little more than opposite the Consulate, whence we 
had started to the firing of guns three hours before. The crew, (in 
which term in future we shall include the permanent staff of 
eight, and the twenty-three hired trackers), were now regaled with 
their first meal. The cook on these occasions has the bowls, basins, 

* He has since changed his adoptive somame of IIo for his real surname 
of Lo. 

t The livers of these animals have since been prescribed as a certain core 
for the malady of Prince Ch'on, the Emperor's father. 



Gorges and Rapids in Hwpei. 5 

and chopsticks all ready : every man helps himself with a wooden 
dipper to a fill of rice from the tub ; each four or five share 
the contents of a ha.sin of tasty soup, bean-curd, cabbage, wooden- 
lookinf? pens, or other strange compound ; fish-like months place 
themselves in position at the bowl edges ; a steady shovelling with 
the chopsticks goes on ; chewing is eschewed ; and all is over. 
Previous to entering the gorge, passed a temple called Kwari' 
yin MitiH^ and a place called Tsz-yang^ both on the right bank, 
and rounded a nasty-looking corner where the water rushed past 
■ome angry low-lying rocks in threatening fashion. On the left 
bank at the entrance of the gorge is the village or boat-station of 
Kan-chin^ a place duly identified on the sketch-map of Admiral Ho. 
The first aspect of this gor8:e, of which we had heard and read so much, 
was somewhat disappointing. The scenery was undoubtedly fine, and, 
to my thinking, resembled the best parts of the Rhine or the barely 
•eoond-rate Norwegian fiords more than anything else. So far 
Switzerland was not to be mentioned, even in a whiRper. The day's 
jonrney was accomplished almost entirely by laborious tracking, 
dnrinfl: which the retrnlation amount of as:ility, howlinor, and other 
unnecessary display was tfot through by the crew. We had one or 
two oppirtunities of taking a walk amongst the ronkti, and at four 
o'clock came to anchor, or rathfr made fast with hawsers fore 
and aft to the bank, at a spot between P^imj-ahan Pa and 
Shih P*ai\ just above the mid -gorge Customs Station at which 
Blakiston appears to have anchored. In no place, thus far, did the 
current seem to be partiotilarly strong. Owing to the method 
of progression employed, the Chinese junks which ascend the 
gorget and rapids submit themselves to all the dangers which 
exist. Ilugjnng the banks, they have to sheer out at each 
projecting rock, where, of course, they must encounter the brunt of 
the current, and where, if rapid or shallow there be, it is most 
probable they will find it. The rock passed, they are swept along 
in the eddy which intervenes between this and the next jutting 
rock, and, whilst thus drifting clumsily along, every favourable 
poeitioQ for the bow places the stern at a corresponding 
disadvantage ; and rice vena. One man, armed with a flexible 
bamboo pole, is frequently all that stands between a rook and 
apparent annihilatioD. A light draft, full- powered steamer, such 



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Gorges and Rapids in Uu-pei, 7 

' Thander-olap Rock.' All the places above meDtioned appear in 
the route-map called the Hsia-chiang Chiu-sheng T*U'Chiht or 
Sketch of Life Saving on Ihe Yatig-Uze liapids and Gorges, 
WheD, as frequently happens, the tow-line gets foul of the rooks, 
the trackers are stopped by a tattoo of three strokes at a time on 
the drum. This is called ta k^tcan^ or * beating easy,* a term also 
applied, according to Admiral Ho's book, to the quick tattoo by 
which on other occasions the men are encouraged to redouble tbeir 
efforts. Fu'tBz is the term applied to the trackers, whether per- 
manent, or hired and additional, {lUenfU'tsz). The half-dozen or 
80 of sailors who remain always on board the boat to handle the 
sail, pay out the line, beat the drum, and so on, are termed hsia 
ihoUf or * hands :* the two masters or mates chia-^chatig, or * man- 
agers.' Owing to the jumble of dialects spoken on the frontiers of 
Hu Peh and 8z Ch*uun, it in dilHcuit to be Hure of the exact mean- 
ing of these terms. Kven the erudite Admiral, who occasionally 
quotes the poet 7u to illustrate the dangers of the route, sometimes 
uses characters which are manife&tly wron^ ; whilst the illiterate 
boatmen and military escort oflictrs ure still less to be depended 
upon. We anchored at 3 '60 p.m., alter a not very hard day's work, 
on the afternof^'U of the 'JOth, and took advuntuge of the remaining 
daylight to ramble over the hills and inspect the country home- 
steads. The dialect of the people di tiers here very slightly from 
that of Hankow ; but the upper even tone, which is so high and so 
distinctly a monotone at that place, shews a tendency higher up to 
'curl upwards' at the end, after the style of the still transitional 
Ilakka shang p^vnj* There seems some reason to believe that the 
Hakkos of Canton Province are the descendants of emigrants from 
8z Ch*uan, Uu Pei, and Kiang Si. Probably, it this be so, the con- 
ftuioQ caused by the madcap vagaries of Chung Ils'in'tsung in 82 
Ch*uao, and the imperial butcheries which followed, both at the 
eloee of the seventeenth century, would sufllciently account for this 
wholesale immigration into the southern province. The houses 
iluit I entered were much better built than those which one 
encounters on the lower banks of the Great lliver. The reason 
probably is that there is high ground on the upper river, where 
it is possible to build without fear ot inundation. When 1 walked 
from Kewkiang to Hankow in the winltr ot 1^72, 1 noticed that 



8 Up the Yang'tse. 

the dwelliDgs improYed greatly as sooa as ever I got beyond the 
reach of the summet overflows of the Yang-tsjse. 

CftAPTER III. 
An hour or so after starting on the morning of the 26th pf 
November, we passed two minor rapids called the Siau Lu-chio and 
the Ta Lu-chio, or the * Little' and * Great Deer's Horns.' The 
native sketch-map states that these places are only very dangerous 
in summer aud autumn, and doubtless the ' strong rapid in June ' 
of Blakiston's larger chart refers to this spot. The two rapids are 
separated frum each other by only a few hundred yards. Our own 
score or so of trackers pulled us successfully through with the mid- 
dle-sized hawser. We reached Shan-tou-pUng^ or liill Lozenge 
Plain — the Shan-toic-j^icn of Blakiston — at noon, and received the 
usual complimentary cards and salutes from the gunboats and red- 
boats at the station. In addition to the red-boat which accompanies 
us to the Sz Ch*uan frontier, other boats of the same description 
escort us along their beats, varying from 30 to 50 li, (ten to six- 
teen miles). The marines and officers so far have all been Hu Nan 
men. Admiral IIo boabted >^ith pardonable pride of the exception- 
ally large share taken by liis co-proviuciuls in both the civil and 
the military government of China. We went on shore after tiffin 
and walked for a couple of miles along the sandy and rocky bank, 
many of the bouMerb upon which were worn deep with the friction 
of innumerable bamboo hawsers. These ropes will endure a much 
greater pulling strain than any hempen article of the same calibre, 
but they are not so limber, and consequently will not coil so quick- 
ly and so small, nor will they stand a sudden cross-strain half so 
well. A hempen hawser could never hold out against the severe 
friction of the granite rocks, and would probably rot with the 
rapid changes of temperature and with wet, whereas the water 
strengthens the bamboo fabric. These latter are renewed at least 
after each voyage down and up. At 3 p.m. we reached the rapid 
of T*a Tung, or Otter's Cave,— the Kwa-dung of Blakiston. This 
rapid does not appear to be more than a furlong in length, but it 
was the most serious business we had as yet encountered, and we 
watched with keen interest from the shore our ricketty looking 
craft as she was slowly dragged through the seething waters. At 



Gorges and Eapids in Ilwpei. V 

this pUce we took on thirty extra trackers, and reqniflitioned the 
big hawMr, about fonr inches in circumference. At least two hun- 
dred yards of rope were paid out, and the trackers were out of 
both sight and hearing of those on board the boat. But a couple 
of men are always ready at a momenlf^i notice to throw off their 
clothes, spring into the water, and free the tow-line from any 
obstacle in which it may catch. Men, too, are posted on prominent 
boulders at distances from each other, to signal orders from the 
boat, and likewise to keep the hawser free. Another hour's track- 
ing and sailing and drifting in eddies, brought us to Mei-J^n T^o^ 
or 'Beauty's Eldy,' after sailing through which we arrived at 
Chiich'i^ 'Crocked Creek,* or * Lane Creek,* (variously written), 
and Uc Yen or lit Yai-isz^ both meaning * Black llock.* All the 
above places are given in the Admiral's Itinerary, and also in the 
Koute Map above alluded to. And here I may stale that I use no 
names of places unless they are approved by the boatmen them- 
sslves. The A'irairars Itinerary gives the name of every single 
place passed by the traveller on both north and south banks, and 
contains at least a dozen others in each of the intervals between 
every couple of names given by me. At He Yen we noticed five 
white hay-cock looking mounds on the hill (left bank) which we 
were informed marked the t^attg or ' stage.' We had, it was said, 
achieved two great Oang^ or ISO H from Ich*ang, the first great 
'stage* being Hwang-ling Miau, Shortly after starting on the 
morning of the 27th, we came to the entrance of the Niu-han^ 
(♦Cow*s Liver,* the Lu-kan of Blakiston), or Ma Fei (* Horse's 
Lungs') Gorge. This place is also known as the K'ung Ling Hsia^ 
a term of doubtful etymology, by some of the boatmen unmistak- 
ably pronounced T'ung Ling. Captain Gill selects this word as an 
instance of the difficulty of obtaining the exact pronunciation of 
Chinese places, and points out how bis companion, Mr. Baber, 
arrived at Liu Lin or • Willow Grove.* In this case, however, the 
words T*ung and K^unj are both used, though the latter is the 
only one given in the two native books so often here cited, whilst 
Liu Lin is another place at the entrance to the gorge. A rather 
far-fetched derivation given by the author of the Sketch Map is 
K*ung * empty,* and Ling^ an obscure character referring to some 
part uf a boat, * because the boats have to empty themselves of 



10 Up the Yang'tse. 

their cargoes oooasionally.' I succeeded in taking a very fair 
sketch of the entrance just before passing the three conseoutiYe 
rocks in mid-stream called the T*ou^ Erh^ and San Chu, or ' First, 
Second, and Thiid Pearls.' The morning was still somewhat 
misty, or it may have been dusty, yet not so much so as to 
seriously mar the prospect, which was finer than anything even in 
the latter part of the loh'ang Gorge, and almost equal to a first- 
rate fiord in Norway : perhaps on a par with Lake Thun, barring 
the snow-capped mountains in the distance, which are so striking 
an ornament of Swiss scenery. We were exceedingly fortunate in 
having a favourable breeze all the way up the Cow's Liver, a gorge 
which takes its name from an overhanging mass which is supposed 
to, and indeed does, resemble somewhat the hepatic organ of that 
ruminant. A solitary tree of considerable size, perched on the 
summit of one of the hills on the left bank, and marked in the 
native Boute Map, was also easily identified. Above the Cow's 
Liver Gorge are the three Ch^ing T^an^ or * Clear Rapids,' (also 
ealled by some the Hsin T^an^ or ' New Rapids.') At certain times 
of the year, — the spring and late winter, — these rapids are perhaps 
the most formidable on the Upper Yang-tsze. We were told, 
notwithstanding, that we should find the Yeh T'an, on the other 
side of Ewei-chou, much more dangerous. There are three rapids 
at this place, known as Nos. 1, 2, and 3, counting from up-river. 
We got out and walked whilst our boat was being towed up num- 
bers three and two, and passed on the way a junk lying bottom- 
upwards upon the bank, where she was undergoing repairs : her 
cargo of cotton was being dried on the beach. No. 3 rapid is aboul 
a quarter of a mile long, the worst part not taking up, perhaps, 
more than one third this distance. At least two hundred yards of 
tow-line were paid out, and the operation safely accomplished with 
the assistance of about 50 extra coolies. No. 2 rapid gave very 
little trouble. We then got into the boat, and closely scanned the 
hazardous business of passing rapid No. 1 , a terrible sloping race 
of not more than 20 or 30 yards in length. The boat was moored 
close to the shore, at the shore-edge of the rapid, and actually 
touching it. Two middle-sized hawsers, each about 150 yards 
long, were laid out amongst the stones, and the bow of the ship 
was steadied by the strongest hawser, made fast to a rock, and 



Gorges and Rapids in Hwpei. 11 

Ijing at rigbt angles to the oonne the junk was to follow. Angry 
roeks peeping throogh the foaming and roaring rapid were within 
a foot of her prow as, with a few palls of the bow-sweep, she was 
sheered into the literally up-hill torrent. As soon as the two 
towing hawsers were taat, the steadying rope was let go and 
hauled in : the waters hissed and roared around the boat ; her head 
plunged ; ererything creaked and groaned ; and the bamboo lines 
slipped and snapped round their fastenings as she slowly, very 
■lowly, crawled along. Just as we had cleared the worst part, and 
were at the ' top ' of the current, we nearly came to utter grief, for 
we had passed a junk at anchor lying in shore between our two 
lines, the hindmost of which the shore people could not or would 
not let loose, and which the skipper was loth to cut, although the 
mates and cook were shrieking for a meat-knife, which was fortu- 
nately not at hand. I did not quite see how we got safely out of 
the scrape, but as the two hawsers were neutralizing each other's 
efforts by pulling in different ways, I expected to see the boat go 
darting down CTery moment. Happily the thinner of the two lines 
held out until the offending second one was eased, and we glided 
into slack water to a salute of three guns Touohsafed by some 
obeequious official. In recognition of their efforts, I presented 
1000 cash to the extra hirelings, and 1000 more to our own crew. 
In the CTening the man who had taken the money from my hand 
eame to enquire if it was all intended for him, or to be diyided. 
The squabbling oTcr this division was so protracted and noisy that 
I half Yowed to give no more presents at all. I forgot to mention 
that, in the Cow's Liver Gorge, we passed the dead body of a man 
floating down stream, over which a kite was hovering. The only 
notice our crew took of it was to say, ' he has his small hose on.' 
The whole of the three Clear Rapids passed by us were on the left 
or north side of the river. There seemed to be rapids on the other 
side too, besides more than one fierce current between, — that is, 
crossing over from bank to bank. Between each of the three left- 
bank rapids, — that is, sailing upwards or downwards,— the current 
finr a hundred yards or more is so slack that ferry-boats cross 
straight over with the aid of a single lu or side sweep. I have no 
technical informstion by which I can form a competent opinion 
whether or no a steamer could make her way up at this time of the 



i4? Up the Yan^-tse. 

jear, — which, as already stated, is not the worst,— or what the 
rate of the current is, now, or at other times. Judging from its 
appearance as contrasted with the strongest summer currents off 
Kew-kiang and Chin-kiang, I should saj that, if those were seyen 
knots, this would he nine or ten ; if fi?e, this seven ; and so on, 
viutatia mutautUa, Whether a steamer with nothing hut steam 
power, and drawiog four or live feet of water, could, with her 
increased resistance to the current as compared with a junk, make 
her way up ii for mariners to decide ; hut, anyhow, she could be 
towed up with 200 or 300 men, and she could have either steel 
hawsers or bamboo hawsers made stronger than those used by the 
Chinese, besides haying steam to ease the strain on the lines, and 
to give her way. Her steam power would at all events be suf- 
ficient to work her into an eddy, or into slack water, should she by 
any chance break loose. The break-iorce spar used in the bows by 
8z ChMian boatmen might be worth the attention of European river 
captains. One of these lies along each of the sides of the ship's 
bows, a little in advance of her prow, like a couple of carelessly 
rigged bowsprits, and is loosely held in a rope loop. The inward 
end rusts on the oross-beam, the ends of which form two cat-heads 
above the gunwales, about six feet from the prow. When the 
boat runs ashore, or on to rocks, the forward end is, or the ends 
are, lowered into the sand or stones : the shock naturally forces the 
other ends up, but a man is at hand to pull them down ; and, to 
give him purchase, a loose loop of rope is left swinging at the 
inner ends too. We had to use both these spars later on this 
afternoon, and one was snapped in two ; but they undoubtedly 
saved ui from serious damage, if not from shipwreck. 

CHAPTER IV. 

Wo were in luck again after clearing the Taking or IJsin T^an, 
and wore carried before a stiff breeze right through the Mi-ts^amj 
or ' Kioo Granary' Gorge — the Mi-tan of Blakiston. This gorge is 
quite as fine as, if not finer than, the Cow's Liver, and is certainly 
more precipitous. Perhaps the most striking view of it is from the 
upper end, looking down into it : there it resembles a funnel lead- 
ing into a bottomless cavern of gloom. Emerging from the Rice 



Gorges and Bapids in Ilu-pei. IS 

Granary, we were sailing hopefully past the llwamj Niu Sun kun^ 
or • Yellow Cow Three Seethings,* with the Chu-ch^ih Chi^ or * Saw 
Teeth Shallows/ on our left, (that is on the right bank), when I 
noticed a junk ahead suddenly drop astern, and at the same time 
drift sideways to the other side of the river. She then as suddenly 
shot ahead, and drifted sideways back again. Assisted by her 
sail, she had evidently manoeuvred to avail herself of an eddy, and 
we appeared to be about to follow suit. But we failed to oatch tlie 
eddy, and had to work our sweeps. What happened next I failed 
to see, as I bad turned my back for an instant ; but, as soon as I 
looked up, I saw we had onoo more crossed to the left bank and 
were going in a slanting direction downwards, bow first ! Then 
we whisked round and drifted upwards in an eddy, fetching up as 
above described on the rocks, and saving ourselves from disaster 
only by a deft manipulation of the break-force spars. The result 
was we lost at least an hour of time, and had to track up what 
looked very like a mediocre rapid, — apparently the Yellow Cow 
again. We had also to round three or four nasty corners, and 
watch a very exciting series of juggles with eddies and strong 
currents. At last we passed a jutting rock on the left bank, called 
JI$ia-thih Men^ or * Lower Stone Pass,' and anchored within sight 
of lau Kwei Chou, or Old Kwei Town, which lay on the opposite 
or South Hank, twenty river ti from Kwei Chou proper. (By the 
way, Kwei Chou should not be confused with K'wei-chou (Fu), or 
K*wci Kwan, higher up the river). There was a little snow this 
evening as we took our clamber over the hills, and we felt very 
sorry for the wretchedly-clud trackers as they huddled together on 
the cold planks, many with but a shirt and poorly-wadded jacket 
over a ragged pair of cotton truwsers. I recommend all travellers 
taking this route in autumn, winter, or spring, to prefer skins to 
stoves. Skin-lined stockings, pyjamas, hat, coat, dressing gown, 
and ulster, with skins on the tl<)or and hung round the room, will 
keep off more cold than any stove, besides not sullbcating one with 
a stuffy atmosphere. Fifty dollars* worth of sheep-skin and fine 
lambskin will achieve all this. 

The whole of the next day, Sunday, the 28th of November, 
was employed in laboriously tracking pabt half-a-dozon coruors, 
the two first on the left bank within sight of Old Kwei Chou, and 



Chum 







%" 




v^^ %«»A A)i»,2«c.^u.K '^^ ^x^<x (ku;-,)i .X ;^ sT^Si^ cc *^ exposed 

mUkWl oVlkUnt. Kvi^^tt. t'^i^k^'k >»x ?«SJ«^ «3UCHr VTWJk CfflMite 

Kvh^ v'^.sa. J.W *viy >.v«i -.>a:;s ja ^ i'^cX. a ea;:|:«-VsAl 

drvva«d. \.^ A i^ .--^LnyiiVi w >id«Mi^ )3^v«^i .^ i^ wit Kuik 
i» «Ark«d va \^ »»iitv Kj<4W )dl v ^ -*^ ^ Y^ju^ K*mi:%^ « tte 
* Whirlpooi vi \.c*u \,i*a,' y^"^^^ \*««V xi# ^^^nt^d amt^or 
0i tbe Li Sii% Fvea. TSm« >» tbh> r^; VdAk «n m&rbeii as Lim 
lUa Ban Hrwtn, cr *T!Lr«r L»:u^ >«^^•w Wbirt|^M2s^* V«t I did 



Oar^es and Bapids in Su-pei. 16 

boweTer, are probably well aathentioated. We hear thrilling ao- 
ooonU of the dreaded Yeh T*an, which we are to pass to-morrow, 
and learn with disgoat that 200 junks are waiting to be towed np ; 
and all before our turn oomeB. In passing Pullej Rook, we had at 
least a quarter of a mile oi hawser out. I see no reason why a 
steamer should not have half a dozen hawsers, each worked with a 
eapstan on board, or a rough windlass fixed on the bank. In the 
narrower rapids like the T*a Tung, she would be able to make use 
of both banks, or of rocks on both sides, for that purpose. One 
of her greatest difficulties would be anchoring or mooring at 
night ; for there is, I belicTe, no practicable bottom to be found in 
many parts of the gorges, whereas, outside the gorges, the bottom 
is often rooky and unsuitable. But, so far as I could make out, 
there is no oonsecutiTe mile of gorge thus far without a footing ; 
and, wherever there is a footing, the boatmen seem to have no 
difficulty in making fast a hawser. I learn to-day from the Cap- 
tain in charge of our red-boat that Admiral Uo is in supreme com- 
mand of thirty gunboats and thirty red- boats, the former with ten 
men apiece, and the latter with five, exclusiTC of the shau kwan^ 
or squad officer — sometimes a junior captain, at others a lieutenant 
or ensign, (for the same terms are used for both army and navy). 
A higher officer in general command of ten red-boats is called a 
ling sAaii, or commanding squad-officer, a sort of petty commodore. 
The men hsye the characters thui chiln, or * marines,* marked in red 
on a white circle in the centre of both back and breast of their tcI- 
Tet-trimmed and neat-looking bluejackets, with their names in full, 
and their numbers in smaller characters ; and also the words * in- 
tended to save life ooly, not to rescue cargo,' chuan chiu tning, pu 
chiu hwo. Their head-dress is a black turban, and their other 
elothes much like those of other respectably-dressed Chinese. / 
They receive from taels three to taels four a month, and one new 
uniform a year, the cost of which is deducted from their wages. I 
nerer saw more handy, smart-looking and docile marines in any 
eonntry. At night they ooTcr their neat-looking $ampan with a 
•ort of blue and white striped tent : one of the fi?e serres as oook in 
turn : they make their beds on board ; and look thoroughly well 
fad, healthy, and happy. Admiral IIo seems to be a very popular 
oAeial, and to take a great interest in his duties. Opposite Kwei 



\ 



.1 



» : .N. :i.r. i^ a: 1 t.. or craTLiiicmt unnii. zrnuiiL. irtittn be ru 
t^ . .:?:.... 1.. lilt iiiii i*: ti<r<f*t: imianju^'i'! Knuiit^i ^la iliit ht 
*' -'w -.'... ;. :h. 1-ivf.j. i hau ;w'. ion? cacTtT«i.*j<iiis "imi. ioit- *»1 
.• . — : I. lu.vi liiiiti, Uit iTiiiki*-. a.T.c. mas fjaLULiiiAliTe 

* -■ .^ ..:: iiut; rvf! mti. I u.'^'^ lit t»^tt.bt: ± L* i*i4 c-ir' 

. ..n . ' -'Shi a, ^iiKt. II;«aiia- '21. ir.:."J^ tlLT'-iT," CT 



*..t\,. yu: u. aij appra ranee, af:*T ar tb^EXS* ti 

• I,;- utitTnoiii.. shorn hrichilr on ocr tS'.rU at 

.:„: X ;i»< 2»Mh, and approaohed iht lie- Lai 

. ,.:%: Itrnjilt.' 'which stxusds ot: frc*in the 

f:;' ir.m th( gruesome Teh T*aii. We 

. ;;v i,::;Tj^;i'. 01 rilakisloL^s chart, on >:*\h 

\, :. i: liu ultfTOonn, met mtn cLiryiDg 

..iv, :? ^:l;Il^: on to xht bnck, tnd sup- 

V • . ,'.i!<t which ohviates the neces- 

r. ::.. UuA^. Tlit- coul is made up in 

.: . > t.r»u boor, mixed with water, 

•'.♦ ,r»n. Arv steamer which 

V :;,' V t nUi thus be able to coal 

'1 \.y price nf c^al, from 

* ,♦; iu'wivr. t200 and 250 cash 

::v,*;^:;iii. :he exact market 

. '.r i.-: jJonr when mshirg 

• ;u i r.> n traveller. Ap- 

, l; v.i.'.,' .TsitJi Tan in 

iv.v^rt'd m at least six 

i./v.-s. waiting for their 

«. ♦, Ti' ct rtr.in privileges 

V ,1 *hc help of our re- 

^'i s4jr>Ci*Nied in ronnd- 

'•, »>"ur; «•: a small rapid, 

.V> waiting imme> 



t. >« 



*<; >» 



■ « • ■ 



\ 



Gorges and Rapids in ffwpei, 17 

diately at the rapid to be towed up. Downward-bound junks were 
shooting the torrent in great numbers ; wrecks were lying about on 
all sides ; and a junk was just being towed up with four strong 
hawsers attached to four gangs of forty or fifty men apiece. 
Strange to say, this rapid is not mentioned by either Blakiston or 
Gill, though we were informed on all sides that it was oar only 
serious one. It is formed by a sloping bed of boulders, stones, and 
large shingle, running far out from the left bank into the bend of 
the river. At this time the rapid on the right bank, which 
did not look nearly so formidable, was available for, and was 
being used by smaller junks. The main current in the 
middle of the two ragged-looking rapids swept down like a 
huge wedge. Just below the rapid was a large rook, standing 
about thirty feet out of the water, and not quite in the cur- 
rent. It was stated by everyone that there was no danger so long 
as the several lines by which junks are towed were kept equally 
strained, and the junk's broadside not allowed to catch the down- 
rush of water. A marine to whom I was talking said that nothing 
drawing more than five feet of water could get up at this time; 
but there would, I apprehend, be sufficient water in the central 
channel if a steamer could only make way against it. Here, as at 
most of the rapids, she would be able to make use of both banks to 
throw out guys and other steadying apparatus. Coming down 
would be a more dangerous business, but (with deference to mari- 
ners, for I am entirely ignorant in such matters), I do not see why 
steamers should not drift down backwards in the most dangerons 
places, and, where necessary, counteract the overbearing force of 
the current by steaming upwards. The Chinese, with their clumsy 
junks and miserable apparatus, can go both up and down with com- 
parative safety, and, however positive the opinion of some may be 
that it would be madness for a steamer to ascend the gorges and 
rapids, I cannot see why, if a steamer accepts the single con- 
dition of drawing no more water than a Sz Ch*nan cargo junk, 
she should not, with all her other advantages, aooompllsh what 
a junk doee. There are at least two master mariners on the 
river who are anxious to be given the chance of trying it, 
and there is certainly no lack of Chinese sailors willing to 
risk their lives if any European capitalist will only have 



18 Up the Tang-tse. 

the plaok to trj, and, if he faile, to go on trying until he 
succeeds. 

We broke three successive hawsers in the ticklish job of steal- 
ing a march on the unwilling crowds of junks below the Teh T*an, 
In one case our safety hung on a shaky looking iron staple loosely 
fixed into one board of a junk's stem. Once we whirled round as 
the current caught us just when our line snapped in rounding a 
Junk ; but we were fortunately able to sheer into the eddy we had 
previously left. The operation was so exciting that we could 
hardly eat our breakfast, but kept rushing to table for a mouthful 
of food, and then bolting to the door to watch eagerly our next 
move. The Chinese boatmen seem to blunder into danger with as 
much easy-going stupidity as they wriggle out of it with calm 
though noisy (if the two can be combined) resource. The trumpery 
old sail, and the provoking old sweeps, the sockets in which are 
perpetually slipping off their pins, and require a man to wax them 
with the sole of a cast-off straw-shoe, seem to work wonders at 
most distressing crises. Knots are carelessly tied ; pipes are lit 
when the hand should be otherwise employed; cooking utensils 
are always in the way ; blocks wabble about, and are so loosely 
fixed that ropes are almost invited to tear themselves ; and yet 
everything seems to blunder somehow round again to safety. 
These Bz Ch'uan boatmen certainly do a good day's work for their 
money. This year they are getting from three to five tiau (strings 
almost equal to a dollar), for the trip to Ch'ung-k*ing, with liberal 
food provided by the ship. Down, they are generally willing to 
come for the food alone; and the journey is only one-fifth the 
duration of that upwards. This year the hire of coolies has gone 
up, it is said, from one to four tiau, owing partly to the plen- 
tiful harvests in Sz Ch'uan, and partly to the fact of large 
numbers having gone north to guard the Russian frontier. I had 
consequently to pay Tls. 200 for a second-class boat which should 
have cost not more than 80 tiaii,^say Tls. 60. 

Arrived at the Yeh T'an, our esoorting officials, (the Si 
Ch'uan one had caught me up here), said that they proposed to 
^nd the afternoon in looking after the ropes, and to start up the 
rapid next day. I therefore took a soldier with me as guides and 
went for a walk as far as Liu-Shu Wan, or * Willow Reach,' on 



Gorges and Rapids in Eti-peL 19 

the left bank, when I regaled myself and the aoldier with pea- 
BQta and tea. As he was well educated, I took the opportunity 
of getting his ' four tones ' out of him, and found that, in his part 
of Hu Nan, the tones were more like those of Hankow than those 
of our red-boat commander, also a Hu Nan man, whose tones were 
almost the same as the Hakkas. Returning from my walk at 
about three o'clock in the afternoon, I saw that our boat had 
somehow or other wriggled herself in front of the other junkS| 
and was about to ascend the rapid. As we were lightly laden, 
we only required two hawsers with about 40 men to each. The 
ascent of three feet was perfectly clear from the hill-top, whence 
I anxiously watched the struggle which decided the fate of 
nearly all the worldly things I possessed. I consoled myself 
with the reflection that, if CTcrything were lost, I should 
at least be the happy possessor of nothing, which is a free 
and easy attitude to take up against society generally. After 
about ten minutes, however, I perceived that I must relapse 
onee more into the cares of possession, and down I went to 
congratulate and receive the congratulatbns of the deputy and 
naval officers. The deputy's small boat ascended next, but he 
watched its approach with serene indifierence, as he had all his 
property on his back. 

The six Atta-sAow, or Vai-kung^ (* hands'), were presented 
with 600 cash wine money; the three red-boats with 600 cash 
apiece ; and the head ruffian of the Rapid coolies with one Uao, 
A bottle of lavender-water was the reward of the lieutenant 
whose mancsnvres had got us past the other junks : I celebrated 
the occasioB with my first shave and wash for a week ; reflected 
that next to scrupulous cleanliness the greatest comfort was un- 
scrupulous dirt; and proceeded to pen these lines. We passed the 
same evening the Mang-^hi Chai^ or ' Boa-oonstrictor Enclosure' 
on the North, and the H$iung-Htoang Shan, or 'Besoar Hill,' 
on the south bank, and moored a little further on the Shang 
ekik-nUn or * Upper Stone Pass.' At half-past eight on the 
■oming of the 30th we cleared the Pa-tou^ or * Eight Bushel ' 
Rapid, without disaster, and learnt that the rapid of Niu K'ou 
or ' Cow's Mouth ' was the only other one of importance on this 
side of K*wei Kwan. Here I shall drop my narrative for the 



20 Up the Tang'tse. 

present, in the hope that it may be of some small service to those 
vho may venture to ascend the rapids and gorges as far as the 
Sz Ch^uan frontier, now but a few miles oft*. 



THE RAPIDS OF THE UPPER YaNGTSZE. 

Amid so much that has been written by European travellers 
upon the Yang-tsze Rapids, it may perhaps be well not to disdain 
consideration of what the native pilot has to say on the sub- 
ject. The opinions and traditions of the local junk-masters have 
been carefully collated by Admiral Ho Chin-sh6n, (whose cogno- 
men is Ha-ch*dn), now charged with the general superintendence 
of the gnnboats and life-boats between Ich'ang and Wu-shan on 
the Sze Ch'uan frontier, it appears from the two prefaces to his 
work, written by the Viceroys Li Han-chang and Ting Pao-chdng, 
that both these high functionaries have been deeply impressed by 
the dangers of the Tang-tsze gorges and rapids. Witness is borne 
by them to the fact, which has been disputed in certain quarters, 
that the villagers at the Ch*ing or Hsin T'an Rapid were in the 
habit of purposely obstructing the river, in order to reap a harvest, 
whether as pilots or coolies, from the disasters befalling merchant- 
junks at that place. Commodore (now Rear-Admiral) Ho was 
accordingly charged with the duty of organizing a life-boat ser- 
vice, to support which the Viceroy Ting* (whilst still Governor of 
Shan Tung) contributed the handsome sum of Tls. 5,000, raised by 
his own efforts. Admiral Ho, whom I visited at I-ch'ang, had 
himself made frequent voyages between Ch'ung-k*ing and I-ch'ang, 
and graphically describes, in a preface to a subordinate part of the 
published Itinerary, the horrors of the route, which * the force of 
10,000 oxen' can scarcely soften. He gives the name of every 
[ single place, whether on the north or the south bank, between the 
two cities ; about one thousand in all. He adds observations upon 
the current, the promontories, the submerged rocks, &c., &c.; 
whilst in an illustrated volume pictures are given which are sup- 
posed to represent the worst places, and additional cautions are 



• c 



Since deceased. 



Hie Bapids. 21 

famished for the benefit of the traveller. I give an almost literal 
translation of the Itinerary, (Rsing Ch^uan Pi Yao^ or * Vade 
mecum to Sz Ch*uan'), as far as K*wei-chou Fu, together with free 
translations of the supplementary observations accompanying the 
sketches. Owing to the illiterate state of the mariners, and the 
unnautical habit of the literates with whom I have been in contact 
on my way up, it has been impossible in many cases to arrive at 
a certain conclusion as to what some of the terms do actually 
mean;— such, for instance, as 'keep the point open,' *take up the 
current,' 'cap the hill,' and so on. The mariners do not under- 
stand the book terms, and the literary men do not understand the 
Colloquial nautical terms : moreover, different dialects are spoken 
by each ; and all these differ more or less from any dialect I know. 
Such is the language of China. I have done my best, however, to 
furnish anyone, acquainted or not with the Chinese language, who 
may do the world the service to survey the gorges and rapids, with 
a basis on which to work. By knowing the names and sites of the 
local rocks and eddies, he will be able to appreciate more readily 
the remarks of the junkmen and pilots, whose services of course 
be must requisition. Admiral Ho appears to have bestowed the 
utmost care upon the Itinerary, which appears to me to be abso- 
lutely correct throughout. The transliteration of the Chinese char- 
acters has been effected according to Sir Thomas Wade's system, 
very slightly modified, for reasons which it is unnecessary to 
discuss here. The riverine dialects, which will be examined in 
their proper place, are, roughly speaking, Pekingese, with the 
Hankow tones. The names of places, however, are so well known, 
locally, that the feeblest attempt at pronunciation will be at once 
identified. If a steamer once succeeds in reaching K*wei-chou Fu, 
surveyors need not trouble themselves much with the rocks, eddies, 
and rapids higher up. All the steamer has to do is to go ahead, 
and let the Itinerary tak* care of itself. Vet, if the accompanying 
wearisome translations b ■ found of any appreciable service, I shall 
have great pleasure in continuing them as far as Ch'ung-king. 
Notice is taken of lilakiston's names wherever they appear on his 
larger chart. Surveyors will be interested, too, perhaps, in com- 
paring the Chinese observations with those in Hlakiston's and U ill's 
narratives. 



92 Up the Yani'tae, 

The dangers of the rapids, it will be seen from the native 
remarks, are (1) sunken rocks ; (2) eddies ; (3) shallows oTor which 
flows a rapid current ; (4) too great draught of water ; (5) insuffi- 
ciently strong lines ; (6) unmanageable helms, by reason of whirl- 
pools ; (7) entanglement of the line ; (8) want of local knowledge. 
The dangers of the gorges seem to consist in (1) whirlpools ; (2) 
eddies; and (3) rapid currents; all of which subject the ship to 
two dangers: (A) running upon rocks or shallows; (B) running 
against the rocky bank. A steamer ascending the rapids and only 
drawing five feet of water (the draught of a loaded cargo junk) 
would be no more exposed to Nos. 1,2, 3, 4, and 7 than a junk. 
As to No. 6, there is no limit to the number of hawsers she might 
use; and, in addition, she could supplement their power with 
steam, improve the quality of tracking hawsers, and command, by 
reason of her superior capital, larger numbers of coolies. Only 
needing to use her hawsers at the rapids, she would keep them (if 
occasionally wetted when made of bamboo) in better condition. As 
to No. 6, a steamer under present conditions would probably be 
worse off than a junk, unices provided with a powerful stem- 
sweep. I do not see why a powerful stern-sweep should not be 
added to the rudder, nor why a forward rudder should not be 
added to a bow-sweep. Some boats, 30 feet in length, have stern- 
sweeps of 60 to 60 feet, of which 30 or 40 project over the stem, 
the inner end being balanced with stones. It is important that 
nothing project beyond the keel or bottom, as lines have con- 
tinually to be passed under boats and junks, and would have 
to be passed under steamers; otherwise the steamer must either 
be delayed, or must break adrift the obstructing junk. Sail 
power would be of little use to a steamer going up ; of 
none whatever coming down: (downward junks invariably un- 
ship their masts). At any rate, in order to facilitate the working 
of lines and crosslines, a mast which would unship would be 
preferable, as also a smoke-stack which would move up and down 
like those of the Thames ferry-steamers. A steamer should be 
provided with a series of strong protecting beams round or above 
the water line, and carry a liberal supply of rope buffers : she 
should also have, at both bow and stern, poles such as those 
used by the Chinesci to break the force of her bumping or ground- 



The Rapida. 2S 

iaf . The ChineM jankt are also provided with a pole at the howt 
niBBiiig through a tnhe in the jank's hottom, whioh may he 
med either aa a hreak or as an anohor. In short, before building 
iteaaere apeeially for this eerrioe, study should be made of native 
paaaenger and eargo boats. Coal oan be had all the way from 
lehang for one or two eash the oatty, — say $2 to $3 a ton. As 
to mooring, it will be seen that the Itinerary points out the most 
eligible plaoee at all stages of the water. 

I will eonclude this paper with a list of nautical phrases 
used on the river, some taken from Admiral Ho's book, and others 
from the mouths of the boatmen themselves. Communioation with 
pilote and junk-masters will be the more easy, the better means 
there are for making them understand exaotly what you mean in 
teehnioal matters. 

1. Passenger-boat. E<wa-tss Ch'uan. 

2. Large high-sterned oargo-boat Ma-oh4o Wei. 

3. Ch*ung-k*ing lighter. Wu-pan. (Double-mast). 

4. Bow-sweep. 8hao, or Ch*ien-shao. 

5. Side-sweeps. Lu. 

6. Oars. Jao. 

7. Move the bow-sweep. Yai-shao. 

8. Work the side-sweeps. Tao-lu. 

9. Heave or throw. Shwai. 

10. Haul. Ch'e, or ch*4, or t'o, or t*wa. 

11. Upward breese. Shang fdng. 

12. Downward breeze. Hsia feng. 

13. Fog. Chao-tsz. 

14. Mast. Wei-kan. 

16. Rudder. To. 

10. Port your helm. Hsiian (or shou) ; i.e. English usage. 

17. Starboard your helm. Pan (or k'ai) ; t.e. English usage. 

18. Galley. Tsao-ts'ang. 

19. Master. (Ta) Lao-pan. 

SO. Mate. Lao-pan ; (usually a relative). 

21. Deok-hands. T'ai-kung. 

22. Traekers. Fu-tM. 

23. After-eabin, (skipper's). Shao-tss. 

9f . State-rooms, (four). T'ou, 4rh, un, and si, kwan-te*ang. 



24 ^P the Yang'tse. 

25. Tiller- room. Chio-wo, or Wo-kung. 

26. To break away. Ta-chaDg. 

27. Make taut or extend. Chang. 

28. Loosen. Fang. 

29. Long sounding-bamboo at bow. Wu-hao. 

30. Other shorter sounding and pushing poles. Kao-tsz. 

31. Bamboo hooked-pole for holding fast. Chao-kan-tsz. 

32. Highest water. Man-ohia-shui, or Ta-shui. 

33. Mid-water. Nan-t8*ao, or Chung-shui. 

34. Mid-water, (full and lower). Ta and Hsiao (added). 

35. Run before wind. Ta-fSng. 

36. To be caught by sudden jibe of wind. Yen-fSng. 

37. To beat the drum thrice to call a halt. \ 

38. To beat the drum rapidly to encourage. J ^* k*wan. 

39. To rest. Hsieh-hsieh. 

40. Stop for tiffin. Hsieh shao. 

41. Life-boat. Hung-oh^uan. 

42. To leave shore-end of rope, and fasten yourself on again 

behind for want of space. Tsou pieh. 

43. A guard or check rope. Tou-chi. 

44. To make fast by way of guard. Tou. 

45. No. 1 Tow-line. Tso-t*an. 

46. No. 2 „ Erh-hsing-t'an. 

47. No. 3 „ Fa*rh-t*an, . 

48. No. 4 „ Fei-t^an, or Fei-feVh. \ *^"^'^ ^^»^^- 

49. No. 5 Line. Ylin-t*an. 

50. Hawser. Lan. 

51. Coir rope. Tsung-soh, 

52. Hemp rope. T*ien-kau, (the name of the only rope for 

which hemp is used, reaching from the mast-head to 
the tracking-line from No. 9b). 

53. Moor. K*au-ch*uan. 

54. Pull up (a moment). E'au-t*ou. 

55. Bow-guy (runs ahead ; to prevent sheering out). Cha-lan. 

56. Bow-guy (runs across). Ye-lan. 

57. Stern-guy. Wei-Ian. 

58. To change course. Tiao-hsiang. 

59. To get or put head into rapid. Chin-tang. 



Tlic Rapids. 25 

60. To get head into eddy in desoending rapid. P'ao-tang. 

61. Eddy. T*o. (If at foot of rapid) T*an-8ai. 

62. To hare passed the rapid safely. Lu-wei. 

63. Slack water, or eddy, below a rook. Wang-shang-shui. 

64. To enter No. 63. Cha-wang. 

65. To enter the current or main stream. Kwei Ts'ao. 

66. To lie helpless in a whirlpool. Wo-ts'ao. 

67. To let your stern be swept round. Tiao-kou. 

68. To let your head be swept round. Ts'ai-t'ou. 

69. To pull up to avoid danger. Cha-shui. 

70. To get a sampan to support your line. Fang-tiao. 

71. To haul yourself by hawser fast to shore. Cho-lan. 

72. Break-force poles at bow. Eang-tsz. 

73. Their gear. Tung-hwa. 

74. To be carried out of course by counter current. Ta- 

oh'iang. 

75. The tow-line caught in water. 8hui-wan. 

76. The coolie whose duty is to watch it. T*ai-8hui-wan« 

77. The tow-line caught on rocky shore. Kau-wan. 

78. The man or men who see to it. T'ai-kau-wan. 

79. Outer side of rapid. Ta-wai. 

80. To join crews. Ho-tsung. ^ 

81. To interjoin crews. Hwan-tsung. ] "^^^'^^^ **^' 

82. Feast of pork (thrice a voyage). Shao-shon Fu. 

83. To ' cnmshaw.' Shang ch*ien. 

84. Navigator of junk (upwards, at bows). Chang-shao. 

85. Raise (the line) ! T'ai-a! 

66. Make fast, or catch. Ewa-ohu-lo. 

87. Rice-tub. Tseog-tsz. Its cover. Tseng-kai-tsz. 

88. Gangway planks on each side of galley. T'ien-ts'ao-pan. 
80. Sail. P^dng. (Same sound as No. 90, bat different word). 
90. Mats forming cover at night. P*eng. 

01. Stem. P*i-ku ; wei ; or wei-tsz. 

92. Cross-beam in front of mast. Wei-tan-tsz. 

93. Poles pinned to each end to support No. 5. La-tan-taz. 

94. Pegs at end of 93 to keep 5 in place. T<ai-p'ing-tdn. 
0^. Short peg between 94 for No. 5 to work on in a socket. 

Chi-hsin. 



g6 Up the Yang'tse. 

96. Deok.plank ia front of 92. Tu-wei-fai-ta'ang. 

97. Hard- wood plank in front of 96, supporting two blocks. 

Ts'ao-hai-pan. 

98. Blocks for making fast tow line fixed on No. 97. Ea-tdn 

or Chiang-chun-t^n. 

99. Pegs fixed in No. 98 to catch tow-line. Ch«i-tsz. 

100. Holes in No. 99 in which to thrust a securing chop-stick. 

Yen or ye'rh. 

101. Pegs to keep No. 97 steady. 8hwan-tsz. 

102. To tie. 8hwan. (Also to twist round). 

103. Iron hoops strengthening No. 5. T*ie-k'u. 

104. Three sockets in No. 5. Shang, chung, and hsia Chi. 

105. Under-piece in which sockets are. Ngai-pan. 

106. Scupper-holes. Ning-ku-yen. 

107. Cross-beam just aft of galley. Cheng- tan tsz. 

108. Fan-ends of side-sweeps. Lu Ch4h-pang. 

109. Pegs between which bow-sweep works. Bhao-ch'ih. 

110. Pegs at each corner of prow. Liang t'ou-mang. 

111. Cross-beam on which after end of bow- sweep is rigged. 

Tung-liang. 

112. Pegs at each end of No. 111. Ting-kun. 

113. Ladle-like bucket for getting water. Chiao-t'ung. 

114. Strong beam of teak or cedar (P nan-mti) at water-line, 

to take the brunt of collisions. La. 

115. Hawser steadying mast and stem, and fetched strongly 

round both, being made fast also to No. 116. Chuan- 
ku-lan-tsz. 

116. Beam projecting from each side near stem. Wu-ma-tan. 

117. To gather in. Shou or Pa. 

118. To support line with hands, to prevent its touching the 

ground. T'o-wan. 

119. Mop. Chou*p*a. 

120. Buffer of rope. K'ao-pa. 

121. To strengthen by splicing externally. Pang. 

122. Axe. £*ai-chang, or Fu-tsz. 

123. Bow of Bamboo, rigged round handle of No. 5, to keep it 

down. Lu-chiung. 
123(1. Pulley fixed at mast. Ewa-tsz. 



The Rapids. 27 

124. Pulley asoending and descending. Chuan-oha. 

125. Hemp-rope for hoisting sail. Li-shong. 

126. Coir-rope from mast-head to stern. Hwang. 

127. Sail-bamboos or reefs. Fdng-kan-tsz. 

128. Smaller ditto in front of mast. Pa-wei-kan-tsz. 

129. Lowest stays. Chi-ohao-sheng. 

130. Higher stays. Hsia-pa-sbeng. 



THB ' TADB-MSCT7M ' OF THE TRAYELLER THBOUOn THE G0R0E8 

OF THB GREAT BITER. 

1. N. Chih-hsi T'ing ; otherwise Hwang-ling Miao. Ninety U 

hence to Lao (Old) Hwang-ling Miao, (No. 66). 

2. N. Ho-shang Shih ; {Mk means < rock '). 

3. S. Li-chia Ho ; {ho means ' river ' or * stream '). 

4. N. Ch*ang ohi-tsz; {chi or chi-tiz means 'shallow' or 

' rapid '). 

5. N. T*an-chia T'o ; {t^o means ' eddy '). At highest water 

downward junks must moor here. 

6. S. Pi-chia Shan ; {Bhan means * hill '). 

7. S. Pei Wan ; {wan means < curre,' ' reach '). 

8. S. Hsia Tsz-yang ; {hna means * lower '). 

9. Mid. Ko-ohou Pa ; (mid. means ' in mid-stream '). 

10. N. Erh-ohiang. 

11. N. San-ohiang. 

12. N. Shang Tsx-yang; (Bhang means < upper'). 

13. S. Ngo Shih-tsz ; upward junks use a long line and go by 

Shan Liu-tsz, (No. 15). 

14. N. Lao-hu Tui ; {iui means ' heap ')• 

15. S. Shan Liu-tsz, 

16. N. Nan-ching Ewan. (Opposite Blakiston's 'Mussul- 

man Point '). Fifteen li from I-oh'ang. 

17. N. Nan-mn K'ong; {k^ing means 'hole'). At highest 

water downward junks must beware of whirlpools. 

18. N. Pd-lung Tung ; (pi means < white ;' iung means 

< caye ' or < hollow '), At high water downward junks 
should be yery shy of the great whirl, and keep 
round by the south bank. 



S8 Up the Yaiig'tse. 

19. K. Hsia-lau Ch4 ; {chH means ' oreek '}. 

20. S. Hwang Mao. Beware of grounding at low water. At 

high and highest water, heware of whirls. 

21. S. Ch*ing-yii T*an ; {t^an here means *deep pool'). 

22. S. Hsiao P^ng-shan Pa ; {hsiao means ' lesser '). At low 

water heware of grounding. 

23. K. Hwang-chin Tsang. 

24. N. Hang Ch4. 

25. S. Ta P4ng-shan Pa ; {ta means ' greater '). Salt station. 

Thirty U from I-ch'ang. Downward junks should 
moor here; or, if pressed, at Hung-oh'i. (This is 
Blakiston's mid-gorge ' Custom House '). 

26. I?. P4en Nao. Whirls at high water. Large downward 

junks should go round hy the north hank, in order to 
get into the south current ; {nao means ' point io he 
climbed*). 

27. S. Shdn K<an-tsz. 

28. S. T'ai-kung Pa-tiao. 

29. S. Ta-mo Ch<ang. 

80. Mid. Shih-p'ai Chu. At mid- water, (t.e. neither high nor 
low), downward junks must he careful in rounding 
the N. hank. 

31. N. Ch'ao-p4ng T'an ; (t*an here means 'rapid'). Beware 

of whirls at high water. 

32. N. Huo-shang-pei. 

33. 8. Shih P<ai. 

34. N. T^ng'jing Hsia; {heta here means 'narrows' or 

' gorge '). 
36. N. Shih-tsz Nao; ('point'). Concealed at high water. 
Go carefully round hy the south hank, (downward 
junks). 

36. K. Hwang-sang Tung. When the water is nearly at its 

highest, downward junks heware of coming to grief 
here. 

37. S. P4-ma T*o. 

38. S. Ha-ma P'ei. 

39. 8. flsi T^an; ('rapid'). Very angry. Up junks must 

use a long line, and hire extra men. At mid- water, 



Tlie Rapids. 2i) 

also add a middling-Bized line, {erh-hsing-Van ; the 
thickest is the Uo-t^an : the ordinary one'^the/a-rA- 
Van', and the thinnest the/ei-^a/i, owfei-fei-rh), 

40. N. Cha Chiian-tsz. Careful at high water, (downwards). 

4L N. T'ien-chu Shan. 

42. N. Nan To\ ('eddy'). Thirty U from'P*ing-shan;Pa. 

Disturbances caused by sunken rooks, (p*ao) ; and 
whirls, (hiuati), both yery bad. Downward junks 
making the north bank must keep the ship's head 
steady, or they will oome to grief at Hwang-sang 
Tung, (No. 36). 

43. S. Shui-t*ien Chio, (or Kio or Ko) ; {chio means 'point'). 

44. S. Ma-ngan T'an. At highest water take the channel 

with one line. At mid-water use two lines, and keep 
out of the channeL 

45. N. Ts*u-shih T*an. 

46. N. Tou-p'^ng Shih. 

47. N. Tou-shan T'o. Moor here (downwards) at lowest 

water. 

48. N. P'u-kai Shih. Downward junks beware of grounding 

on sunken stones. 

49. 8. Kwo-yiian Yen ; (yen means * cliff'). 

60. N. Hsia Nan Ch'i. 

61. 8. Cb'ing-shui T'an. One large and one small line at 

highest water. At mid-water two large lines. Large 
junks hire extra hands as far as Pd Tung-tsz, (No. 
106). 

62. 8. Ju-i, or Wu-i T*an. Covered between high and 

highest water. Vessels drawing 4 and 6 feet should 
take the old channel by the south bank, in order not 
to come to grief on the north side. If they muit 
take the north side, they should not be too coniident. 

63. 8. Kao wei-tsz. 

64. N. Chiu-ming Sl.ih. 

66. N. Hung SItih-ttz. At mid-water, Chapo Rock should be 
kept open by downward junks. The yessel should 
not sheer out, or get into tho current. This rapid is 
Tcry dangerous. Beware of counter-currents. 



so Up the Yan^-tse. 

66. B. Cha-po. At highest water upward junks may take the 
ohanoel with two lines. At mid-water, also two 
lines, but avoid the channel. 

57. S. Ewan Ts'ao. At highest water Hung Shih-tsz is in 

the line of downward junks, but small junks may 
take this channel, {U^ao). 

58. S. Hwo-mao Chu. Beware of grounding at lowest water. 
69. N. Sa-fang T'o. 

60. S. Ta Lang Hung. At highest water two lines. 

61. S. Hsiao Lang Hung. At highest water two lines. 

62. Mid. N. San Chu ; (chu means ' often sunken rooks '). 

Ta-tsz Rook is at the point of this. Upward junks 
beware of grounding at lowest water. 

63. Mid. K. £rh Chu. (Toti, irk. %an mean 1, 2, 3). 

64. Mid. N. T'ou Chu. Take the south bank at all times, 

65. 8. Liu-yu T'an, or Liu-i T<an. 

66. 8. Lao (or Old) Hwaug-ling Miao. (See No. I). Thirty 

U from Nan T*o, (No. 42). At highest water Cha- 
po Rook, (No. 66), should be kept open by downward 
junks. 

67. N. Tien-tdng Shih. Beware of grounding at low water. 

68. 8. Tai Shih. Two lines at high and mid- water ; junks 

be careful how they come alongside at the jaws of 
these narrows. 

69. 8. 8an-ohia T<o. 

70. 8. Ch4-kou T'ou. Beware of breaking adrift going up. 

71. 8. Lei-p*i Shih. 

72. 8. Hsia Lu-Chio. (Lower Deer-horn Rapid ; the first I 

encountered in November). Upward junks keep in 
the channel at mid-water. Between mid and low 
water avoid the channel, and use extra strong line. 

73. 8. Mei-mao Chu. Downward beware of grounding at 

low water. 

74. N. T*ung-ch4en Tui. 

75. 8. Shang Lu-chio, (or ko). (Upper Deer-horn Rapid). 

At full mid-water upward junks keep the channel. 
At low mid-water avoid the channel, and use line 
of extra strength. At low water mooring junks 



The Rapids. SI 

should use a long hawser. It is had to make 
a start from this plaoe, as there is a preat risk of 
hreakiog away. 

76. Mid. T*ai Hong Chu. At low water downward janks 

can take the old channel by the north bank. 

77. N. W«ng Tung. 

78. N. Pa-ho K*ou. 

79. 8. Hwa-lin Chi. 

80. S. Ma P*i-ku. At high water downward junks should 

keep to the South bank, in order to take up the 
current on the north side. 

81. B. Pien-ytl T'ao. 

82. 6. Mao-ohia Tung. Upward junks taking this channel 

should keep a long hawser out, (t.e. line). 

83. 8. Nan Hu. At full mid-water upward junks may 

keep the channel with a strong line. At exactly 
mid-water, avoid the channel, and use a longer line. 

84. N. Pel Hu ; (Nan, Pei mean * South, North '). 

85. 8. Tiao-yii Tsui. At high water a yery strong track- 

ing-line. 

86. 8. Shan-ton P'ing. (Blakiston's Shan-tow-pien). At 

high water downward junks may moor here. 

87. 8. Chung Pa. Upward junks at high water may keep 

the channel. At full mid-water they should keep 
outside the bank, {pn). When there is a breeze, at 
highest water upward junks may take the channel, 
and cross to Cha-Ian k'ou, (No. 108.) 

88. N. T*an-chia T*o. 

89. 8. Lo Wei. At mid-water upward junks should use a 

long hawser. 

90. 8. Shih-ching T'an. At high water upward junks 

should use a long hawser. 

91. 8. Hwang-shih-pan. 

92. Mid. Chuan-shan Chu. Beware (downwards) of 

grounding at low water. 

93. N. Uwang-la T<an. 

91. S. Kwo Lung-tsz. Upward junks should use a long 
hawser at lower mid-water. 



S2 Up the Yan^-tse, 

95. S. P6-la T'an. 

96. N. Ye-pei-hsiang-yii-tsui. 

97. N. Twan T*an. 

98. S. Mao P^ing. The boundary between Tang-hn 

(I-oh'ang) and Kwei Chou. At highest water up- 
ward junks may cross here if the wind is favourable, 

99. S. T4e-lu Pei. A long line at high water. 

100. S. Teng T*an. Two lines at high water. At full mid- 

water one strong line. If the junk cannot venture 
in the channel, halt at PS-tung-tsz, (No. 106), and 
cross to the north. 

101. N. Niu-kang Pei. At high water upward junks should 

take the river side (outer) of the race, and beware 
of breaking loose. 

102. S. Ch'ang-fu T<o. Downward junks beware of ground- 

ing when the shallows are under water. 

103. Mid. Pien-tan Shih. Downward junks beware of 

grounding at low water. When lowest, the rocks 
can be seen. 

104. S. Chi-cha-tsz. Qpward junks beware of grounding at 

mid-water. 

105. 8. T*a Tung. (Blakiston's 'Kwa-dung'). Two lines 

at low water, and extra coolies. Downward junks 
should take the north bank at low and mid-water, in 
order to get into the south current and river channel. 

106. S. PS Tung-tsz. Upward junks at high water use three 

lines and keep the channel. If they keep outside 
(river side) of the current, two lines. Both inner and 
outer courses are dangerous, and require caution. 

107. N. Ya T*an. 

108. N. Cha-lan E'ou. At highest water upward junks 

should keep to the channel with three lines out. 

109. Mid. Ta Chu. 

110. S. Hwang-shui Hao. Beware of grounding at mid and low. 

111. S. Hsia Yang-pei. At mid- water, use a long tow-line. 

At high water, cross the river if there is wind. 

112. N. Wu-hsiang Miao; (miao means 'temple' or 'joss- 

house '). 



TJte Rapids. 33 

113. S. Shang YaDg-pei. Long line at mid-water. Cross 

to the north bank (upward junks) if wind favourable. 

114. N. Ching Chiang. At high water upward junks use 

one long medium line. On getting beyond, change 
for a strongest line as far as Ta-ming Ch*i, (No. 
1 17). Beware of breaking your line here. 

115. N. Chia-ku Shih. Downward junks at high water take 

the north bank, in order to take up the current on 
the south side. Be yery careful not to get swept 
against the south bank. 

116. S. Yin-hen T*o. Downward junks can moor at low 

water. 

117. N. Ta.mingCh»i. 

118. 8. Hsien-jdn Ch*iao; [chiao means 'bridge'). If down- 

ward junks can see the bridge exposed, go ahead. 
If not, then Ilung-shih-tsz, (No. 55), will be in 
their line, and they must moor at Chung Pa, (No. 
87), or pull up there. 

119. N. P*ien Yen-tsz. Downward moor at high water. 

120. N. Hdog Liang-tsz. Very dangerous and angry at high 

water, when extra men must be hired. 

121. 8. Ch»uCh*i. Thirty Zi from Mao P*ing, (No. 98), and 

60 from Old flwang-ling Miao, (No. 66). One great 
stage upwards to Kwei Chou. 

122. Mei-j^n T'o. Downward moor at mid- water. In 

starting off in spring and winter, beware of fogs. 
In the 3rd and 4th moons beware of sudden squalls. 

123. Mid. Chai-kung Shih ('rock'). Caution! Coyered 

at mid-water. 

124. 8. Nan-lin Ch*i. 

125. N. He (or hei) Yen-tsz (or yai-tsz). {Hi or hei means 

* black.' Yetif ngan, and yai mean 'cliff,' in- 
differently). 

126. N. Ch'ai P'eng-tsz. Lighten ship at low water down- 

wards. 

127. 8. Lung-hsU T'o. Place for lightening downward ships 

at low water. 

128. N. Shan-mu Ch'i. 



S4 Up the Tan(^e. 

129. N. Ya-tfz Shih. At yery lowest water, large upward 

janka should ayoid the main ehannel ; small junk* 
keep it. Beware of grounding in shallow plaees. 

130. Mid. S. Pei Tan Cbn ('submerged roek'}. When the 

rapid is eoyered smooth, downward junks should 
heware of striking here. This rock absolutely re- 
quires eaution. 

131. S. Hsiao K'ung-ling (or T^ng-ling). Downward junk» 

at low water beware of Ta-tsz fiook, QSU^ 129). The 
raoe is yer j angry, eyen when smoothed oyer, and 
requires oare. 

132. N. Liu-Liu Chi. Upward junks two lines at high water. 

Beware of grounding at low water. 

133. N. San Chu. At lowest water upward junks keep the 

riyer side of the rapid with a long line, and at low 
water keep the channel Downward junks beware of 
grounding on the ovter side of the rock at low water* 

134. N.ErhChu. Downward beware of grounding at low water, 

136. Looking inwards* Hwang ChHen ; {€h*ien means ' shal- 

lows ')• Downward junks beware of gio«nding at 
low water. 
1S6. N. Ta Chu. 

137. Mid. K'ung Ling (or T'ung Ling). At low water down- 

ward junks should, when a down-riyer breese is 
blowing, anchor at Lao-kwan Miao, ^o. 140), and 
not start from henoe. They should also engage a 
local pilot {Van shih). 
13B. N. Ho-shang Shih. 

139. N. Tfian-yang Shih. When this rock is ooyered. Hung 

Shih-tsz is in your line. (See No. 65). 

140. N. Lao-kwan Miao. Thirty U from ChHk Ch4, (Ko. 121). 

Upward junks can only enter the gorge with a fair 
wind. Downward junks anchor here. 

141. N. T6ng-tsz Shih. When at high water downward 

junks find a channel oyer this rock, they may be euro 
that the water is at its higheet at Hung Shih-tsf. 
(See No. 56). When the channel is dry, pull iq^ at 
Hung Shih-tsz. 



The Rapids. 35 

lit, N. Liao-yeh Wan. Upward janks may only start henoe 
at high water with a strong breese. Downward 
jnnks at high water should beware ef getting into aa 
eddy. 

143. S. Chia-wan ChH. After 2 p.m. beware of sqaallf . 

144. N. Ma-jdn Pei ; (pei means ' promontory '). Downward 

Junks beware of violent whirls at high water. 
146. N. Nia-kan or Ma Fei Gorge, (Blakiston's Lu-kan). 

146. N. T*an-eh<iian Wan. 

147. Mid. Ka-ch^ng T'an. 

148. N. Ma-ts*ao Pei. Upward janks shoald not prooeed al 

mid and low water when the breese is against them. 
When eyery thing u eovered over at high water, hire 
extra traekers. 

149. Ch'ing fan or Hsin T'an, Ko. 3. (Nos. 1 and 2 higher 

np). 
100. R. Sh6-hnng ChL Upward Janks be oarefal how they 

anohor at low water when a strong faTOorable breeie 

is blowing up the gorge. 
Ul. N. Chi-eh*ih Po. 
152. a Chiang-oh^ T'an. 

163. N. Yao-tsz Ten (or Yai). At low water both up and 

down Janks beware of grounding. 

164. N. Ch«ing T'an, No. 2. Thirty ii from Lao-Kwan Miao, 

(No. 140). At full-mid, low-mid, and lower water, 
use two lines, and beware of grounding. 
166. N. 8an-kwai 8hih. 

166. N. Mu-ehu 6hih. 

167. N. Tin Wo-tsa. 

168. N. Ch'ing T'an, No. 1. Upward junks at mid-water 

require three lines. When the water is smoothed 
oyer, four lines. At low water eargo should be di*- 
eharged and carried oyerland, the junk taking the 
outer or riyer side of the rapid. At lowest water be 
careful of grounding at Ta-tsz 6hih, (No. 129). Be 
careful in mooring, and at low water take pilots both 
up and down. (This is Blakiston's *TsiBg T'am 
ViUage and Bapid '). 



36 Up the Yang-tse. 

159. Mid. Chi-hsin Shih. 

160. N. Pe (or pei) Ts'ao; (* ohanner). When Ping-p«an 

(Rock, No. 179), has two feet of water over it, junks 
may take this channel. 

161. S. Nan Ts'ao. 

162. S. Ching Shih-tsz. 

163. N. Hwang Yen. 

164. K. Shan-yang Chio. At highest water the whirls are 

prodigious: upward junks should not proceed with 
too strong a hreeze. 

165. S. Wa Kang. The mountain fell in here in the second 

year of Chia-ohing of the Ming Dynasty, and gave 
rise to the Ch4ng T'an Eapids. 

166. S. He-t*ao Pei. 

167. S. Hsiao Hsin T'an. Downward junks may moor at 

either hank when the water is low. 

168. N. Shih-hn T*o. 

169. S. Mi-ts<ang Tung. 

170. N. Ping Shu Gorge, or Pao-chien Gorge. 

171. S. Mi-ts'ang Gorge. (Blakiston's Mi-tan). 

172. N. Hsiang Ch'i. Upward junks he careful how they 

approach this plaoe with a favourable breeze. In the 
afternoon the squalls are apt to be violent. 

173. N. Hwang-yu San-kun. A long line at mid- water. 

174. S. Tung-m^n T*ou. 

175. 8. P*u-oh*aan Ho. 

176. S. Jen-an Shih. Downward junks may moor at high 

water. 

177. S. Chu-tsz Liang ; [Hang means ' ridge'). 

178. N. Hwo Lu-tsz. At low water upward junks use a long 

line. 

179. Mid. Ping P'an Rock. At low water upward junks use 

a long line; downward junks may take either side 
when only one or two feet of the rock are exposed, 
but they should not yenture on with the up breeze 
against them. 

180. 8. Nan-shih Men. At low water downward junks should 

keep the south bank, in order to enter the current at 



TJie Rapids, S7 

Pei-Bhih Men, (No. 182). In passing Piog-p'an rook, 
the old channel should be kept if three feet of the 
rock are exposed. 

181. S. Hwang Ch'ien. At low water the shallow places are 

25 to 35 feet outside Nan-shih Men. 

182. N. Pei-shih M^n. At mid and low water, up junks may 

cross the river below Nan-shib MSn. Downward 
junks beware of rough water, locally called ' white 
dragon,' {pi'iung)^ in crossing : they should be 
prompt and ready with their arrangements, or else 
they will be wrecked on the Ping-p*an Rock, or its 
shallows. 

183. 8. Nan Ts*ao. At high water upward junks keep the 

channel. At mid-water keep on the outside of the 
rapid. At high water the outside may be taken with 
a strong breeze only. 

184. Mid. Ch*U-yiian San-p'ao. At low water, downward 

junks should go round by the south bank, in order to 
get the north current at Pei-shih Mdn, (No. 182). 
Wrecks on Ping-p'an Rock are all owing to want of 
care in this respect. 

185. S. Old Kwei Chou (City). Downward junks mooring 

here at low water should not start against the breeze, 
lest they should come to grief on Ping-p*an Bock. 

186. 8. 8z-ohi Tang. At lower mid-water upward junks 

should keep clear of the eddy in ascending the rapid. 

187. N, Tn-yen Lung. At mid and low water downward 

junks should keep the north bank, in order to take 
up the south current. 

188. 8. Lien-hwa-tsz. Upward junks at low and mid water 

beware of being borne upon the bank of the river. 

189. Mid. Wu Shih, (Black Rock). At mid water and smooth 

water downward junks rounding the point by way of 
Eun-ttz Chio, (No. 192), must be wary. 

190. Mid. Mi-U*ang 8hih, (<rock'). Upward junks Uke the 

eddy at low water. Downward junks mind not to 
get wrecked here. At lowest water junks cannot 
ptM here. 



S8 Up tJie Yang'tse. 

191. S. Fang T'an. Upward janks hire extra men and pay 

out two lines at low water. At high water beware of 
breaking away. 

192. S. Enn-tsz Point. Extra coolies and two lines at high 

water. Downward junks mast always keep the point 
open, lit, 'hold it in their mouth.' Slackness in this 
matter will carry them on to the rocks. If Black 
Rock is covered, there are four or five feet of water 
here. Either bank. 

193. S. Cha Chio-tsz. 

194. 19. Hu-p'i Liang. At highest water, downward junks be 

careful not to come to grief here. 

195. N. Kwei Chou (City). One great stage from Ch*ii-ch<i. 

Of late years junks (as did mine) take the Tso-f ang Eoa 
on the South Bank, (No. 201). {Kou means ' ditch.' 

196. N. Lei-mdn Tung. 

197. N. Tsz-ching T'o. 

198. S. T<ai P'an-tsz. 

199. S. Shih-tsz Shan. 

200. N. Lao-hu Shih. Dangerous for downward junks at high 

water: they should take the south bank. If the 
river is swollen, or the wind high, they should not 
venture down. (Junks had been detained when I 
passed). Upward junks may keep the south bank at 
high water when 8 or 9 feet of the rook are exposed. 

201 . 8. Tso-f ang Eoa. 

202. N. Ewan Ts*ao. 

203. S. Lan-yti Fang. 

204. S. Sao-ying San-pei. Upward junks haul up below the 

point and use two or three lines. They can only 
progress with a breeze. 

205. N. Ch'a-shdn Miao. 

206. S. Pa-ti Hu. At high water, downward junks for Ewei 

Chou should put their helm here in such a way as to 
go round by the south bank, in order to take np the 
north current. They should not start with a strong 
breeze against them, or they will be wrecked on 
Ping.p'an Rook, (No. 179). 



Th4> Rapids, 39 

207. N. Hwtng-tan-hao. 

208. N. Ta-sha-tsz. Verj d&ngeroas for upward janks at 

high water. Beware of shallows in mooriDg at the 
entrance to the gorge. When the Lao-hn Rock, (No. 
200), is exposed 8 or 9 feet, jonks must take the 
Lia-lai Ewan channel, (No. 211). 

209. S. Te-oha H6ng-chiang. At mid-water, when there is 

angry water from the creek at Lia-lai Ewan, there 
are nasty whirls to be guarded against by small up- 
ward junks. 

210. N. Cbdu-wu Chi. Upward junks take the inside of the 

shallows (chi) at mid, the outside at low water, and 
use two lines. 

211. 8. Liu-lai Kwas. At highest water upward junks keep 

the main channel. 

212. N. Tao-ku T*o. Downward junks moor at highest water, 

but do not start with a breeze down river. If the 
river is swollen, keep a good look-out for Loa-ha 
Bhih, (No. 200). 

213. N. Fan-tsdng Nao. Whirlpools bad at low water. 

214. N. Ye Ch'wang. 

215. N. Te Chdn. 

216. N. Ye T*an (Blakiston's Rapid of Yeh T<an). Upward 

junks at full-mid- water keep the channel with four 
lines : small junks three lines. At exactly mid- water 
and smooth water, tranship cargo. At low water 
boats may be hauled up either bank. (When I went 
up in November, only small junks could take the 
south bank. This was our worst rapid). At lowest 
water look out for shallows at the entrance. Down- 
ward junks at low water should go round by the 
north bank in order to get the south current. 

217. Mid S. Yang-tsz Shih. Downward look out for ground- 

ing at low water. 

218. N. Ch*i Tsz-mei. Ditto. 

219. N. Mang-she Chai. 

220. 6. Hsiung-hwang Shan. 

221. N. Shang Shih-men. Upward junks may cross the river 



-^ Up the lang'ise. 

at kifk wmter oalj if tber hKw^ a breeze. Downward 
JTxnki eooe aeroas frigiitfiil wiixzipools at hi^eat 
wat^. Tbej ihoold go rooad bj tke loath bank in 
order to get tbe north cfErr^t SbmII jnaka Hnat bo 



222. S. Hwan^-ebaag PeL 
22a. :!i . Cban^-diia Ch'i 

224. N. Hsiao Pa-ton. Dangerons for npwazd jonki at high 

water. With a faTonrable breex« jonka eroasing the 
rxrer shoold ' cap the head' of the rapid. 

225. :Si. Ta Pa-ton. Thirty H from Ye X^aa. Upward jnnka nae 

two linea at aud-water ; at high water, three, with a 
atem hawser. IX>wnward jnnka at high water go 
ronnd bj the sonth bank in orda to get the north 
enrrent At bigh<»at water the whirla are Terj dan- 
gerons to small craft. 

226. a Kon-ahih T^o. 

227. K. Kin-k«on. (Blakiston's Xin-kow-tan). The border 

between Kwei Chon and Pa-tnng Hien Distrieta. At 
all timea upward jnnks reqnire fi>nr linea. With a 
strong npward breexe thej ahonld also hare out a 
atem hawser, to use in shooting the Teasel out. 

228. Mid. Ta-tsz Shih. Athigh water downward jnnks should 

examine the watermark registered at Niu-k*ou ; and, 
in making Niu-k'on, keep elose in to the south bank, 
in order to get the north current. 

229. N. Ch*i-kou T*ou. Dangerous at full-mid-water. Up- 

ward junks be eareful not to break awaj. 

230. K. Hwang Liang-tsz. 

231. N. T*a Ho. 

232. 8. Hnng-shih Liang. 

233. S. Chi Ch*ih-pang. At full-mid and exaot-mid water 

take care not to break loose going up. 

234. N. Ewo-lung T*o. Upward junks mind shallows at low 

water. 

235. N. Ta Hwang-la Shih. 

236. N. Hsiao ditto. 

237. S. Pa-tung District City. Thirty-fiye U from Ta Pa-tou, 



The Rapids. ^1 

(So, 22o). Ninety li from Kwei Chou. At fulUmid- 
water down junks may moor here, but not too far 
dowtif on anoount of iballows. 

238. 8. Ch*ing-chu Piao. At full-mid-water upward junks 

may take either bank. At lower-mid- water junks 
should follow the north bank to ^t the south cur- 
rent. Be very careful not to be carried on too far 
north. 

239. K. Tung-hsiang K*ou; {tung means 'east'; hsi < west'). 

240. 8. Wan-hu T'o. 

241. N. Mei-ntt sai-hsiu. 

242. N. Chiang-chun T*an. At high water, two lines upward. 

243. N. Niang-niang T<an. 

241. N. Hsi-hsiang K'ou. (Blakiston's Sian-kow). Down- 
ward junks moor at highest water. Upward junks 
must cross at low water. At lower-mid, ^beware of 
shallows. 

245. Mid. Mu-chu-erh. This channel can be taken by upward 

junks at mid -water. 

246. N. Mtt-chu T'an. Strong line required at low water. 

At mid-water the north bank cannot be taken. 

247. 8. Mtt-ohu ChL At mid and low water all junks may 

take the north bank upwards. 

248. K. Kwan-tu E*ou. (Blakiston's Kwan-du-kow). A salt 

station. Thirty li from Pa-tnng. At high water 
downward junks must not moor too high, nor yet too 
low. This is the plaoe for changing the helm. If 
▼easels cannot moor here, they can moor at Hsi-hsiang 
K'ou. Starting hence at low water, Tessels must get 
exactly into the current Upward junks can only 
progress at high water with a breeze. If there is no 
breeze they should pull up, or they tro liablo to bo 
wrecked at Mu-chu T'an, (No. 246). 

249. N. Lung-wang Miao. 
260. N. Chi-kwan Shib. 

251. a Tong-chan Wo. 

252. 8. Niu-drh Pei. 

253. N. Men Hwan-tsz. At high water, downward junks of 



4^ Up the Yan^'tse. 

all sizes should go ronnd by the north bank to get 
into the sonth onrrent. 

254. S. Hwo-yen Shih. At high water, when there are 5 or 6 

feet of water on this rook, apward janks should mind 
not to break loose. If there is only a foot or so of 
water, halt there; and, if the junk takes the 
channel, use two tow-lines. If 8 or 9 feet of the rook 
are showing, take the outer side of the rapid, and 
moor. Care required in then shooting out the vessel. 
Downward junks beware of huge waves when there 
are 8 or 9 feet of water on the rook. 

255. S. San Chung-tsz. At highest water, upward junks 

require three tow-lines: at mid-water two. As the 
whirls are great, beware of breaking loose. 

256. 8. Tang-ohia P'dog. 

257. 8. Hsia-tso T'ien. At high water upward junks can 

only advance with a breeze. Ch'ung-k'ing junks 
(wupan) should go in front as pilots. If there is no 
breeze, and the junk moors, great care required in 
again shooting out the junk's head. 

258. S. Lao San-chung-tsz. Upward junks require two lines 

at high water, and cannot advance without wind. 

259. 8. Ye-hu San-pei. Upward junks must be careful at 

high water. 

260. S. HsUan-yen Pei. 

261. 8. Nan-mu Yiian. (Blakiston's Nan-mo-yuen). Down- 

ward junks may moor at low- mid water. 30 li from 
Kwan-tu E'ou. 

262. 8. Ma-shih T'an. 

263. 8. Hung.yen Chi. 

264. 8. Hsiao Yen- wo Shih. Downward junks beware of this 

rock at mid- water. 

265. N. Hwang-ho K<ou. 

266. N. Fu-ling Chi. Upward junks at smooth water use one 

long line : at low water, two. 

267. 8. She T'un Hsiang. Downward junks at highest water 

may moor. 

268. N. Leng-shui Chi. At smooth water, upward junks may 



T?ie Rapids. 4^ 

cross with a breeze. If no breexe, use two lines. At 
low water, the current is so strong that extra men 
must be hired. 

269. N. Wan Liu. 30 li from Nau-mu Yuan, (No. 261) ; and 

one great stage, (90 2t), from P'a-tung. 

270. 8. P'ai T'o. Downward, look out for huge whirls at 

highest water. 

271. N. Chin P4en-tan. Upward junks can only advance at 

high water with a breeze. 

272. N. T'ie Kwan-ts'ai. 

273. 8. Hwang-la Pei. Upward junks should only attempt 

to advance when there is a breeze. 

274. 8. Hsiang Lung Shih. 

276. N. Pien-ju Ch*i. Otherwise Pu-tai K'ou. The border 
between 8z Ch'uan and Hu Pei. Fifteen li from 
Wan Liu, (No. 269) ; I-ch'ang 435 li. One side of 
the gully (ch*i) belongs to Pa-tung, the other to Wu- 
shan. Great whirlpools at highest water. 

276. 8. P'ei-shih. (Blakiston's Pei-shih). Upward junka 

require two lines at mid-water. Care required in 
shooting out after mooring. Beware of breaking 
loose at low water. 

277. 8. Pe 6hih Lu. Submerged rock; disturbances and 

whirls at highest water. 

278. N. Tau-shih Ewan, ditto. 

279. 8. Hwang-tB*ao P*o. 

280. 8. Shan-mu Jang. Upward junks should not advance at 

high water without a breeze. 

281. 8. Sz-yen Ch*i. 

282. 8. Hsiao Mo. Upward junks should only advance at 

high water with a breeze. 

283. 8. Ta Mo. Downward junks take the south bank at 

high water. Small craft mind the large whirls at 
high water. 

284. 8. Wu Liang-tsz. Two lines at high water. In entering 

the rush of water, mind you do not get embarrassed 
by the river bank. Great care needed. Do not 
advance without a breeze. 



44 Up the Yang-ise, 

285. N. E'n T'ao-tsz. At high water, lightly -laden xrpward 

junks may hoist sail to a favourahle breeze. Heavily- 
laden ones should cross to the north bank, and 
anchor in the creek, being towed out of the creek \o 
Wu Liang-tsz. 

286. 8. Ch*ing-shih Tung. From Wan Liu, (No. 269), thirty 

/f. At high water upward junks should moor unless 
they have a breeze. 

287. 8. Wang-fu Yai. 

288. N. 8an-hsia 8hui. The wind is apt to veer round here. 

289. 8. Man Ch'ou. Downward junks mind the whirls al 

high water. 

290. 8. Pa-wang Ch'n. Upward junks only adranee witb 

wind at full-mid. 

291. 6. Chin £<wei. 

292. 8. Chin Chia. Downward junks moor at lew water. 

293. 8. Tan-tsz Ch*i. 

294. 8. Lao-shu Ch'u. Only advance upwards with breeze. 

Whirlpools bad at mid-water, when a long line 
should be used. Downward junks, exercise great 
care. 
296. N. Hdng-shih Ch*i. 

296. 8. 8haDg Tao-t*ien. With a Ch'ung-k'ing junk as pilot, 

a large junk may go up under sail, and even cross 
over. If the breeze is only a light one, she should 
moor, and take care how she shoots out again. 

297. 8. T*iao 8hih. Long line at high water. With a breeze, 

either bank at mid- water. 

298. N. Kung-ohia Fang. Two lines at low water. 

299. N. T4ao.shui Mai-U'ai. 

300. 8. Mei Hd-tsz. Two lines at low water. Downward 

junks taking the north bank must be sharp io 
turning the junk's head. 

301. N. K*ung-wang T*o. Upward junks, take care io 

crossing at high water. At low and mid- water 
downward junks beware of coming to disaster here. 

302. 8. Hsiu 8hih-t8z. Upward junks two lines at low 

water. At low water downward junks sheer off here. 



Hie Rapids. 45 

and keep close to the south bank in order to oatch 
the north current. 

803. N. Hung-sha Chi. 

304. N. Wu-shan (City). From Ch*iDg-shih Tung 60 U. 
One great stage from Wan Liu, (No. 269). Down- 
ward junks should halt at low water if the wind ia 
against them. At highest water, if many junks are 
starting together, beware of crowding. 

306. N. Niu-shih Tui. 

306. N. Ta-m6 T'o. 

307. N. HuDg-shih Liang. A long tow-line at low water. 

308. N. Wu-chi. Two lines and extra coolies to ascend the 

rapid at low water. 

309. N. Hsia-ma T'an. (Blakiston's 'Rapid of Hia-ma'). 

From Wu-shan 25 /». Exceptionally dangerous : two 
lines at low water, when downward junks find best 
safety in going straight down the rapid. (Both up- 
ward and downward juoks followed these directions 
when I passed in November. This was one of our 
most difficult rapids). 

310. S. Chiang-ofiun T'an. Two lines at mid-water. 
3n. N. Yii-t*u Yen. 

312. N. TuDg-kwan Tsui. A E<wei Ewan, (No. 366), Customs 

Station. Downward junks moor at low water, and 
do not start against a strong wind. Extra men for 
upward junks. 

313. N. Hu-chau 8hih. Be careful not to break loose at high 

water. 

314. N. T*o Tu-tsz. At low water upward junks may crott 

with a breeze: without one, extra men and line. 
Downward junks for Tung-kwan Tsui alter their 
course here in order to get the south current. 
316. N. Tu 8hu-tsz. One line at low ; two with extra men at 
mid. 

316. 8. Hsia Nan-tsui. Downward junks at mid- water must 

catch the current here, or they will get into the eddy. 

317. N. Shan Lan-tsz. At low and mid-water, upward junks 

should be careful in entering the swift current not to 



46 Up the Yang'tse, 

get the line foul of their bow-sweep. Extra men and 
line at mid-water, when the junk's stem is apt to be 
swept round. 

318. N. Lung Pao-tsz. From Hsia-ma T*an, (No. 309), 30 U, 

At high water upward junks require three lines and 
extra men. At mid-water two lines. If there is 
water for the junk in the Shang Nan-Tsui (No. 320) 
Channel, take the south bank. 

319. S. Chiao T<an. Two lines at high water. 

320. S. Shang Nan-Tsui. Use this channel if possible, with 

a long line. At high water, downward junks must 
be kept with helm steady, or they will be caught by 
the eddy. 

321. N. Hwang-ohang Pei. Dangerous whirls. Upward junks 

mind not to break loose at high water. 

322. S. Hsi-fang T<o. 

323. S. Ch<u-oh*ih P<an. At highest water use a long hawser. 

324. N. Yu Ch*ang-t8Z. 

325. N. Shen-tz Ten. Dangerous whirls for upward junks at 

high water. 

326. 8. Ts'o-k'ai Hsia. 

327. N. Ch'ing Yen-tsz. 

328. N. Yu-oha Chi. Most dangerous at low water. Use a 

strong line. 

329. N. Ts'ao-ohia T'o. Downward junks moor at low water. 

330. 8. Li-kwai T'an. 

331. N. Kan-yu Shih. 

332. N. Hu Hsu-tsz. Downward junks take the south bank 

at low water in order to catch the north current. 
This place is dangerous ; mind you do not run on the 
river bank. 

333. N. Chin-yin Ho. Downward junks may moor at low 

water. 

334. N. Ngo-kou Tui. Upward junks mind not to break away 

at low water. 

335. 8. Tai Ch<i (Blakiston's Tai-chi). From Lung Pao-taz, 

(No. 318), 30 U. One great stage from Wu-shan. 
Downward junks may moor at high water. 



The Rapids. 47 

336. N. Pe-kwo Pei. At highest water upward junks may, 

with two lines and a breeze, advance. Whirls bad ; 
on no account go on without a breeze. 

337. 8. T4e T'an. At high water downward junks mind 

disaster here. 

338. a Mao-erh T<ou. 

339. 8. Chih-ma Shih. Downward junks mind disaster here 

at high water. 

340. N. Chi-hsin Shih. At high water very dangerous for 

upward junks when the water is disturbed. When 
the junk enters the rapid, it must head for the 
'chow-chow' water, and keep steady in mooring, 
starting again in a few moments. 

341. 8. Ho Shih. At high water, upward junks only advance 

with a breeze. This is the most dangerous plaoe in 

the Chij T'ang, (i. e, the literary name of the Bellows 

Gorge). 
312. N. Yen-hhu Ts*ao. Upward junks at highest water keep 

to the < foot of the mountain :* then keep the main 

current : if the breeze is favourable take the Hd Shih 

course on the south side. 
3-13. N. Hwang-chin Tou. At high water, junks taking the 

Carraway-seed Channel, (Yiian-sui Ts'ao), must turn 

thoroughly well round. 

344. N. Shan-kdn Ts*ao ; (' foot of the mountain channel ')• 

At high water upward junks may take this channel 
with a stern hawser out. 

345. 8. Hsiao- H6-shih. Downward junks at high water must 

go round by the north bank. They must not let their 
head be carried round, nor let their stem be swept 
out of the course. 

346. N. Shan-tsz Shih. The boundary between Wu-shan and 

Fdng-chieh, (K'wei Kwaa or K'wei-choa Fu), 
Districts. 

347. N. Kan Kou-tsz. At high water only advance upwards 

with a breeze. At high water downward jonka take 
oare not to strike the banks. 
34 K. N. F^ng-hsiang Hsia. Bellows Gorge (a wooden bellowa 



48 Up the Tang'tse. 

placed in an inaooessible orerioe up the rook is pointed 
oat to the traveller as having been inserted there by 
the famous K'ung Ming, or Chu-ko Liang). (This if 
Blakiston's < Wind-box Gorge '). 

349. N. Shih-pan Chia. At high water apward junks may 

cross, but only with a breeze. At high water, down- 
ward junks must go round by the north bank, and 
just hit the current, when only they will catch that 
current which runs past Tao-tiao Ho-shang. The 
least fraction too high or too low will not do. 

350. S. Tao-tiao Ho-shang. 

351. S. Shu-chwang T'ai. 

352. 8. T*ai-tsz Ko. 

353. 8. MSog-liang T*i. 

354. 8. Fdn-pi Chiang. 

355. S. Nan-nil E'ung. Downward beware of whirls at high 

water. 

356. 8. Shih Pi-tsz. 

357. N. T4e-ohu Ch'i. 

358. S. K<un-niu Shih. 

359. Mid N. Yen-yu Shih (or Ten-wei Shih). The most dan- 

gerous place for downward junks at mid-water, for 
they must allow themselves to be carried with the 
swift current. If they are caught by an eddy they 
must veer round and moor, waiting until the water is 
slacker before they start afresh. 

360. N. Pd-ti Ch»tfng. 

361. S. Ma-ngan Shih. 

362. N. Ch<ou-yen Chi (means ' stinking salt shallows,' be- 

cause in the winter months inferior salt is obtained 
here in the manner described by Captain Gill). Up- 
ward junks at mid-water keep the channel. At low 
water keep outside the low bank, (as we did in 
December). 

363. S. Ch4ng-lang Chio. This is a beacon for Hd Shih, (No. 

341). If this point is covered, the water is at its 
highest at Hd Shih, and junks should not start until 
the foot of this last rock is out of water. 



The Rapids- ^9 

364. S. Hiia-k'ni T'an. 

365. 8. T'unjf-ch»ien Tui. 

966. N. K'wei-ohou Fu, or K'wei Kwan. (Blakiiion's 'Quai 
Chow '). Thirty /i from Tai-ohi, (No. 335). Down- 
ward junks may moor at low water, and pull op at 
mid-water. Great caution required if a strong down 
breeze is blowing. Look out for the banks falling in 
in the 3rd, 4th, and 5th months. 



SPECIAL OBSEBTATIONS. 

No. 17. The whirlpools are caused by the rush of water north- 
ward from Pd-lung Tung, (No. 18). Most dangerooa at high water, 

Nos. 26 and 27. Diagonally opiK)site : owing to the narrowness 
of the channel, the rush of the current at high water is most dan- 
gerous. 

No. 30. Vertical in mid-stream. Most dangerous at high and 
mid water, when the current dashes against it. 

No. 36. At high water most dangerous when the current from 
n»i T'an, (No. 39), dashes into the hollow (/any). 

No. 55. Hung Shih-tsz is the most dangerous of all the rocks 
about here. Spring and summer are the worst times, when the 
cimrse of the current is very tortuous. 

Nos. 72 and 75. The jagged rooks on one side of the river form 
(he danger here. 

No. 83 and 84. Opposite each other. The confined waters are 
most dangerous in summer and autumn. 

No. M. The swift current causes whirls. Most dangerous in 
summer and autumn. 

No. ]05. Dangerous at all seasons, on account of the irregular 
rooks lashed by the current in the river channel. 

Noe. Ill and 113. Less dangerous since A.D. 1789, when some 
of the rocks were swept away. 

Noe. 133, 134, and 136. At the entrance to the E'ung-ling 
OoTg9^ right in the middle of the river. (P Downward) junks most 
turn (o the left in leafing No. 136 ; then seixe the helm, and turn 
to the right. The slightest mistake will bring them on the 
rocks. K'ung-ling so called because you must k*unj; (empty) the 
vcssti's iimj {': hull) ' ! 



50 Up the Yang'tse, 

No. 158. The most daogeroas rapid of the gorges. Confased 
rooks on either bank, and treaoherously submerged in the channel. 
Most dangerous in winter and spring, when only lightly-laden 
junks oan pass up and down. Others must discharge cargo. 

No. 170. Tradition says, so called because E^ung Ming, or Chu- 
ko Liang, concealed troops here. 

No. 173. Sunken rocks most dangerous at mid- water. 

No. J 79. (Here called Chin-p<an Shih). Is almost contermi- 
nous with the stones about Nos. 180 and 182, and quite obstructs 
the current. Most dangerous at low water. 

Nos. 180 and 182. Dangerous at all times. 

No. 184. Chow-chow and whirlpools ; most dangerous at high 
water. 

No. 188. Three whirlpools in mid stream, with a confused 
mass of jagged rooks. Most dangerous at mid water. 

No. 206. The roar of water on the nine parallel lines of rocks 
is like thunder in the 5th and 6th moons. 

No. 216. The rocks in mid-stream are Nos. 214 and 215. 
The water striking against these causes whirlpools. Most dan- 
gerous at high water. [There is a proverb, * Tu ch4ng wu yeh,' 
* Where Ch*ing T*an (is dangerous you need) not (fear) Teh T'an ;' 
but the Teh T*an must have altered recently, as neither Blakiston, 
Gill, nor the Chinese books make much of it ; whereas we found it, 
and heard it spoken of, as our only very serious rapid in November.] 

No. 221. The foot of the hills on either bank confine the river. 
The current is most dangerous at high water. 

Nos. 224 and 225. Most dangerous in summer and autumn. 
The current rushing south forms bad chow-chow water. 

No. 227. The rubble at the foot of the mountains here goes 
right into mid-stream. Dangerous at all times. 

No. 238. Properly the name of a snake. Alludes to the tor- 
tuous current. 

No. 246. Large rooks obstruct the current. Dangerous both 
at high and low water. 

No. 254. The roar in spring and summer is heard three miles 
away. 

No. 272. A stone lying in an inaccessible place gives the 
gorge its name. 



Tlie Rapids. 61 

No. 21b, The border. Most daogerous at high water. 

No. 278. Whirlpools in summer and aatumn. 

No. 282. Summer aod autumn rapid. 

No. 283. Obserre the 12 peaks opposite. Whirls, summer and 
aatumn. 

No. 286. Rooks above and waves below. Worst in summer 
and autumn. 

No. 288. Upward junks, look out for shifting winds. 

No. 289. Whirlpools in summer and autumn. 

No. 290. The water, but oooasionally only, is frightfully angry 
in iummer and autumn. It is easy to avoid danger. 

No. 294. Care required in summer and autumn. 

No. 297. So called because a rock once rolled down the south 
bank, and caused the present danger. There is also a fairy legend 
connected with this place. 

No. 301. In summer and autumn the whirlpools are sometimes 
100 feet in diameter, very dangerous, and most difficult to avoid. 

No. 309. In the spring and winter, when the water ia low, 
the river bed is full of rocks in all directions, and the confusion 
immenie ; however, the current is not very rapid. 

No. 312. The lower K*wei Ewan Customs Station. 

No. 316. At mid- water the water is most furious. Great care 
required. 

No. 317. (Here San Lan-taz T*an). Rocks jut into the river 
on both sidea. When the stream is narrow in spring and winter, 
the current ia furious. If junks can keep clear of this, they need 
not fear. 

No. 318. (Here Lung-pao T'an). In summer and autumn a 
jnnk's helm ia apt to be rendered helplesa by whirlpoola and capaise. 

No. 321. Naaty chow-chow and whirls in summer and autumo. 

No. 326. Ditto. 

No. 326. A fable connected with a place five U off. (N.B. — 
In connection with this gorge, it may be mentioned that in A.D. 
1823, a K*wei-choa Fu gentleman, named Li Pdn-chung, gave over 
Tla. 10,000 to demolish or improve many of the worat of the above- 
mentioned rocka). 

No. 341. < If you strike Yen-yii, you go down at He Shih,' 
says the proverb. (See No. 369). 



6^ Up the Yan^-fse. 

No. 3d3. Because Meng Lianji: crossed with a Iadder-Iik9 
bridge. N.B. — This gorge, called Chu T*ang, ineaDs * Great {chu) 
eolleotioD {Vany) of Water.' Its ancient name was Hsi-ling. It 
is the key or gate to the * Three Gorges.* Yen-yii Rock guards its 
mouth. 

No. 359. Stated to be 200 (Chinese) feet round. It is pro- 
minent at low-water in winter, when over ],000 feet (? round) 
appear. The rise and fall of the water >8 several hundred feet. 
The rock is like a horse. Hence the saying : * When Ten-yii ia 
large like a horte, yon eannot descend Chu T*ang. When it is as 
large as a turtle, you cannot eren peep at Chii T*ang.* 

No. 360. (Here Pd-ti Shan). Its ancient name was Ch*ih-chia 
Ch'dng. A savage-looking hill. 



A JOURNEY IN NORTH SZ Cfl'UAN. 

As I have said before, at Fou-t'u Ewan, the road from 
Ch'ang-k'ing westwards separates into two branches ; and, early 
in the month of June, I took the north-western road, which runs 
for a few miles within view of the Hoh Chou River. Looking 
down aa we descended from the rook, we obtained a most glorious 
yiew. There was the dangerous gate of Shih-m^n-'rh almost 
eoTered by the muddy waters, and forming a strong contrast with 
its winter aspect, when it stands high out of the clear and limpid 
current. The hills on the left hank were bathed in fleecy clouds, 
intervals between which gave play to the brilliant rays of the 
rising sun. The /ya-/«z, or * plain,' which extends in labyrinthiaa 
undulations up to the range of hills of which Ko-lo Shan is the 
most prominent, was literally reeking with richness. The dull 
and leaden af^pect of the paddy-fields was now changed into a 
green freshness, as the transplanted shoots had grown sufficiently 
tall to hide the water from the eye. With the exception of the 
lour feet of stone road, not an inch of vacant ground was to be 
seen. The di?i ling ridges were covered both above and down the 
•ides with 'yellow 'and * green' bcnns. Tobacco in huge worm- 



A Journey in Xofih Sx CJiiutn, 53 

•aten leafei; maize already shewing its red hairj-looking efflores- 
eence ; spinaohi Barbadoes millet, pea-nuts {ArachU hypogaea)^ 
and a sort of parsnip or potato called niu wet shao, or peh shoh, or 
•Ann yiif occupied those patches of land which were not taken up 
by rice. Numerous little birds cheerfully sang in the summer, 
and, to add to the bucolic and classical illusion, the rustics wore 
garlands of peach-leares round their heads, — with the purely 
practical object of keeping them cool. Bamboos, um-Vung* (Ster- 
culia plaianifolia)^ cedars, willows, {yang Uu, ? Salix communti, 
and tna^iiUf of which I have a specimen), fig-trees (hwang koh), 
yews, firs, pines, all in fresh leaf, gave varied colour to the land- 
scape. The Vung trees were now in fruit, and innumerable wild 
flowers and berries enabled me to make a speedy oollection, which 
I trust will some day come before the eyes of a botanist. Though 
it was very hot in the sun, I thoroughly enjoyed a walk under 
the protection of a quilted umbrella, and the light-hearted oooliea 
relieved themselves with nasal snatches of celestial song. We 
stopped for tea at Siao-lung-k*an, a village 15 U from Fou-t*u, the 
entrance to which is under a notched and gnarled banyan which 
arches romantically across the road. I don't know whether it is 
that my nostrils are now becoming inured to powerful odonn, or 
how, but I perceived no stench at all from the paddy fields, nor 
was my pleasure marred by the spectacle or smell of any of those 
pita or receptacles which are such a distinguishing feature of Foo- 
chow and Shanghai rurality. The yang ch*uof or ktcei ku yang^ 
which utters a treble note in the form of three whistles, the middle 
one of which is an octave higher than the other two, defied all my 
efibrts to get a glimpse of him. The only new tree was the ehUh^ 
kuh'lan or * bone- joining elixir,' a malodorous plant with long, 
pointed, willow-like leaves, used as a * simple.' The road to the 
coal-mart of T8'z-ch*i E*ou, where the river turns north, branches 
off to the north-west, whilst we skirt the brae of Ko-lo Shan, and 
mount painfully westwards up two miles of steps to Kan-tien-tsz, 
(1,200 feet above the sea), 45 /i from Ch*ung-k*ing, and 30 from 
Fou-t*u. 

After leaving Eau-tien-tsz, we get a glorious view of a very 

* Not to 1)6 confaied with the Vung or AUuritft. 

t Perhaps this is Williams* IShuh chwang, or * Sz Ch'aas cackoo.* 



64 Up tlie Yang-tse. 

considerable plain (for Sz Ch'uan) oalled Hia-pa^ and bhortly after- 
wards find ourselves in the valley, where the road again divides, 
the western branch running to Pih-shan Hien, and ours north-west, 
biseoting the plain, to T*u-t*u Chiang, beyond which it is called 
Chung Pa, Here my followers and the townsmen had a free fight, 
which appears to have arisen from the fact that the former were 
no longer in mourning for the Empress-Dowager, and that the 
latter were as yet unaware that the ofiicials of Ch^ung-k*ing had 
two days ago resumed their red tassels. The appearance of a 
foreigner soon secured a deferential hearing. The accnsed person, 
whose meddlesomeness had caused the afi'ray, and who appeared to 
be a literatuSf went down on his knees, and I sentenced him on the 
•pot to knock his head thrice upon the ground, or, on his pleading 
that it was dirty, upon my umbrella. The river which we crossed, 
or ought to have crossed, last month at Pe-shih Yih runs through 
thii Tillage, and we crossed it again at Sz T*ang, a mile further 
CD. It is nothing more than a rocky cataract, which winds pur- 
poselessly about in this and the Pd-shih Tih plain, or Shang Pa, 
It joins the Hob Choa River at a place called Pd-pei, 90 li from 
Ch<ang-k*ing. 

Passing a village called Si-muh Ewan, we went on for another 
16 U to Pa-t'ang Miao, a place which seemed to consist ohiefiy of a 
druggist's shop. The local Esculapius had a gentle and scholarly 
appearance with his spectacles over his nose, and, whilst refreshing 
myself with tea, I took the opportunity of putting him through his 
facings in respect to ' simples,' of which I had gathered not a few. 
The day was so hot that we all required more tea at Ten-k'an, a 
Tillage half way up the hills at the other side of the plain, 100 li 
ftom Ch'ung-k4ng. Three more li brought us to Ch*ing-muh 
Kwan, (920 feet), a place where I succeeded in obtaining a tolerable, 
in place of a vile, inn by the simple expedient of making my four- 
teen bearers jointly responsible for my decent lodging. Wine- 
money at the rate of a penny a man a day, to be docked on each 
oooasion that the inn is intolerable. 

Leaving Ch'ing-muh Ewan, we proceed along a narrow 
valley, which is blocked up by a crenellated wall at the further 
end. Our road branches into two before reaching the wall, 
through which one branch runs west to Pih-shan, (25 ^'), and the 



A Journey in Jforth Sz Ch'uan. 55 

oUier to T'dng-lianf^, (85 li), and Hoh-ohon. The Utter, which 
we follow, rans north-west after passing through the Siao Ewan, — 
the name given to the pass in qaestion. The defence was thrown 
up in 1864, at the time when the Tiin Nan opium rowdies were in 
revolt, and in possession of Pih-shan. At Wan-ch*ang E'ou— so- 
called from the saucer pottery which forms the greater part of the 
village— the T*ung-liang road separates from ours, which now 
runs due north, and we keep this course with hut slight deviations 
throughout the day. There is a coal-mine at Wan-ch'ang E*ou, 
the entrance to which is quite close to the road. The country 
gradually becomes more uneven and rooky, and maize shares with 
paddy the possessiDn of the s<>il. The other crops as before, with 
the addition of laran, buck -wheat, and F'rench beans, {sz-chi ioii, 
short flat, and curved, and chiany toUf long, coarse, and baggy]. 
I noticed no new trees the whole day, but I again secured a very 
rich oollection of wild flowers. We met singularly little traffic on 
the road, and passed comparatively few farm-houses. Twenty U 
further on, after passing WSn-t*ang Yih, or Luh T^ang, a road 
again branches oflf to a place 30 li distant called Chiu-hien Ch'ang, 
or the '* Old City Market,** which appears to have been the seat of 
a District Magistrate under the Miug dynasty. Wa-tien-tsz is<35, 
and Ch'i T'ang 45 li from Ch*ing-muh Kwan. I forgot to say that 
one of the two bridges at this last place forms the boundary 
between the Pa Hien and Pih-shan Hien territories. The day was 
broiling hot, and 1 was consequently glad to put up with very 
indifferent accommodation at Pah-t'ang, only 65 /t from Ch*ing- 
muh Kwan. The way in which these chair-bearers will carry you 
briskly along, up and down long flights of steps, in a broiling sun, 
with the thermometer at 90 degrees in the shade, is really mar- 
vellous. Their capacity for enduring discomfort ought to make 
the Chinese the best soldiers in the world. The labourers and 
rustics along the road were all engaged in a process called kauing 
the rice ; that is, treading down the outer or weakly shoots in each 
bonch, together with any weeds there may be. We are now in a 
region where it evidently pays better to get salt from Hoh Chou 
than from Ch'ung-k*ing. Porters carrying loads of Shd-hang 
pan-salt, worth 28 cash the catty at Hoh Chou, and 32 at 
Ch4-t'ang, were met coming from the north. W« also met Shan 



S6 Up the Tang-tse. 

Si ooolies with their masters' bedding on poles bound for Ch'ung- 
k4ng, the owners intending to carry on the drug trade there. The 
only place between Ch4 T'ang and Pah T'ang is Man-fu Chiang, 
where I presented the crowd with a copy of the Home News, 
After it had been carefully examined, one old man took pains to 
explain to me that not one of them could read it, whilst my coolie 
explained to him that it was a newspaper fashioned after the man- 
ner of the Shanghai Shin Pao^ each paragraph of which pointed a 
moral or adorned a tale. 

We had to mount in a north-easterly direction up to a pretty 
high pass after leaving Pah T'ang. It is called FSng-ya, and 
forms the very appropriate boundary between Hob Chou and 
Pih-shan Uien. We had a severe storm during the night, during 
or in consequence of which the aneroid barometer may have con- 
siderably varied ; but, apart from that possibility, the pass is about 
500 feet above the winter river at Ch*ung-k*ing, and 1,300 feet 
above the sea. The view from the summit or neck, as we descend- 
ed into a wide undulating plain, was very striking and lovely. 
The night's rain had freshened everything up, (though, indeed, 
nothing but the air required freshening), and the eye could light 
on no spot which was not thisk with verdure or foliage of some 
sort. The descent from F6ng-ya is not immediate. First the 
road skirts the heights, and winds through a sort of elevated pass, 
of which the sides are, however, anything but what would be 
called mountainous. The only place after this of anything like 
importance — in a very humble sense — is Shih T*ang, where I found 
the dark, black, and grimy < parlour ' a very grateful retreat from 
the sun's rays, which a better room would have not been to so 
complete a degree. The distances for the day are Fdng-ya 10 /i, 
Shih T'ang 30 /t, Hob Chou 20 /i, sixty in all. Just before coming 
in sight of Hob Chou, I caught sight of the river which runs down 
from T'ung-liang Hien and Chiu Hien, forty li apart. It is said 
to be navigable a good way above T'ung-liang, and joins the Shd- 
hang River five li above Hob Chou. The word T'an^, so often 
used in the course of the past three days' journey, signifies * stage ' 
of 20 or 25 li, and at each stage there are or should be a row of 
from three to five conical ^//i, or mortar pillars, such as one sees 
so often all over China. 



A Journey in Xorth Sz Cfiiian. 57 

Hoh Chou I have already described, when I aaw it under 
different oonditions in the winter. The rirer bad, early in June, 
covered all the exposed bapk on which the shipbuilding took place 
in February, and had reached almost to the bottom of the steep 
flight of steps which leads to the Gate. 1 was favourably im* 
pressed with the town as I rode through in my chair, and I should 
be disposed to rank it above Lu Chou in everything but size. It it 
also decidedly cleaner than Ch'unK-k'ing, or even than any other 
town I have as yet sc-en in Sz Cii*uan, except, perhaps, K'wei-ohov 
Fn. 

Our road from Hoh Chou towards Sui-ning Hien was a direct 
eut to the north-west. We had already had to cross the T'ung* 
ch*uan River once on arrival opposite Hoh Chou, and we now had 
to cross it again where it turns west at Chao-chia Tu, and ooo« 
more where it turns south at Pd-sha, 15 /• from Ho Chou, aft«r 
which we followed the left bank for fifteen more li as far aa Wei 
T*o, where we leave it and cut across a bend for 40 li as far aa the 
Urge market- town of Ta-ho Pa, 70 U from Hoh Chou. There it 
nothing of special interest to be noted on the road, which, betweem 
P^-sha and Wei T*o, degenerates into a mere bridle path along the 
sandy bank. Maize is more common than rice, owing to the ooni« 
parative steepness of the undulations. Brinjals and tobaooo, 
together with the vegetables previously specified, are the other 
crops. Some of last yearns (or perhaps the winter and B^riag 
crop) tobacco was being aired and dried on the shore, under a aort 
of low shed made out of mats, to the top of which the leavea wer« 
auapended in valance-like rows. Tobacco in these parte ia usually 
brought to market in bundles about the size of a besom. 

Tobacco seems to be most extensively cultivated in the neigh- 
bourhood of Ch*^og-tu. The largest quantity, and this made up 
chiefly if not entirely as tz yen or ' cut tobaooo,* cornea from P*i 
Hien, where the use of oil-cake manure (yti k*u Ux) ia most advant* 
ageoualy pursued. Its usual price at Ch'ung-k*ing la about 110 to 
120 oaah the catty, or 80 cash in the leaf. There are, howeTer, 
three qualitiea, the la (great), irh (second), and ehOok (foot, or 
lowest) ; but the last named does not oome to Ch'ung-k'ing. The 
prioee of the two others in August 1881 were Tls. 13.2 and Tla. 10 
the 100 catties at Ch'ung-k*ing. The best tobacco cornea from 



58 Up the Yang-tse. 

Ein-t'ang Hien, and, it is said, would, if properly dried with fire 
inatead of in the sun, compete succeBsfally with any in the world. 
Its colour is goody and its flaTour soft and mellow. The usual 
price at Ch*ung-k'ing is ahout 160 cash the catty. This tohacoo 
is done up in open handles {k^un) of from 30 to 40 catties, only 
one-fifth the size of the P4 Hien bundles. A third kind comes 
from 8hih-fang Hien, hut this is hotter and stronger than either of 
the other two, usually costing at Ch'ung-k*ing about 130 cash the 
oatty. The hundles are about the same size as those from Kin- 
t'ang. The prices of all the above descriptions are often 25 
per cent, higher in the late autumn than when the new crop has 
just been gathered. The statements of the Shanghai Delegates 
made in 1869 regarding the tares are corroborated with unimportant 
discrepancies at the present day. The hong scale is 16 ounces and 
^Q to the catty, and payments are made with discounts of chin 
k^ou chiu ch% which is probably what the Delegates mean hy Tls. 
8.7.3 for Tls. 10. The wholesale prices of all these tobaccos vary 
very much with the time of the year. The new leaf from P'i Uien 
costs in May, at Ch*ung-k'ing, between Tls. 7 and Tls. 8 the peoul ; 
in autumn from Tls. 9 to Tls. 11. But in some seasons it has gone 
up as high as Tls. 15. 

The tobaccos from K'il Hien (also chiefly $z yen or pressed and 
planed tobacco) and Ho Chou are known at Ch*uog>k*iDg as Vu or 
' local ' tobaccos, and cost about 30 cash the catty in the leaf. Pre- 
pared and cut, there are three qualities, the Vou hwang at 50 cash ; 
the irh hwang at 60 cash ; and the Viao sz at 130 cash the oatty. 
The t*u yen is dry and yellow compared with the p*i yen, which is 
oily and dark inside. 

The hong charges, according to my informants, somewhat 
differ from those given by the Delegates. The buyer is said to pay 
two mace the bale for certain tobaccos, and the seller one mace. 
This is called $an fin yung, or < 3 per cent charges.' A kind of 
tobacco (which does not make its appearance in Eastern Sz Ch'uan) 
called nan^hwa yen, grown from Kan Sub seed, is produced in 
Kien-ch'ang and Ch*ing-oh4 Hien, near the Tibetan frontiers. 
There was once a large trade in this tobacco with Ch*ang-k*ing, 
but now other and nearer places demand all that can be supplied 
Ihsnee. 



^4 Journey in Korth Sz CKuan. 59 

The export of tobacco from Sz Ch'uan cannot be ranked 
amongst the first class items of trade. Hu Kwang (Hankow and 
Ch'^n Chou) appear to be the chief markets, and their combined 
import probably does not much exceed Tls. 400,000 a jear, much 
ol it being re-exported water-pipe tobacco. Snuff is imported 
entirely from Canton and Peking, probably in the first instance 
from abroad. The higher qaalities fetch enormous fancy prices. 
Regular snuff-takers usually satisfy their appetite with a quantity 
of the coarser description, and * top' the indulgence with a pinch 
or two of superior, just as dinner claret is topped with a glass of 
borgondy or liqueur. Water-pipe tobacco is said to be entirely 
imported into Ss Ch'uan from Lan Chou and Shen Si. 

A considerable quantity of n yen Is also imported from Fu 
Kien. This, (fu yen), and the tobacco known as mien yen from 
Mien Chou near Ch*^ng-ttt, are amongst the most expensiye kinds 
of all, and fetch from 140 to IdO cash the catty. 

A Tisible improvement in the deportment of the people took 
place at toon as we passed north of Hoh Chou. Certainly, they 
displayed some little curiosity at the rare spectacle of a foreigner 
in European attire ; but their manner was quiet and even respectful, 
and they did not beset me in the inns to a disagreeable extent, even 
in placet where fairs were going on. They very often rise from 
their leata when they see an official chair approaching, and even 
vncoil their queues, or remove their umbrella-like hats — which last 
movement is, I apprehend, rather intended to make way than to 
inresent an uncovered head ; but, in the exceptional instances where 
these marks of civility were shewn, the actors often shewed un- 
mistakable symptoms oi discomfiture when they perceived that it 
was ' only a foreigner.' 

I made the discovery of a novel industry to-day. I had 
several times noticed a man walking along country lanes, and, 
apparently purposelessly, blowing a small horn : it turned out that 
this instrument was the signal of a pig and cow gelder. I also 
made the agreeable acquaintance of a remedy against mosquitoes in 
the shape of paper ropes filled with ground < land-eel* bones, 
•nlpbnr, and sawdust, which, when lit, slowly smoulder and emit 
an odour which certainly keeps mosquitoes off, even in candle-light : 
these ropes are called tcin yen, or ' mosquito smoke,* and remind 



60 Up the Tang-tse. 

one of the lanzare pastilles of Yeoice. Another sort is made out of 
Tarious kinds of A rtemisia. 

At Wei T*o I perceived a number of Man-tsz Tuny^ in the rockfi 
ef the left bank. Some of them looked ver}* old, and others much 
larger than any I had seen hitherto ; but they were all unapproach- 
able except with the aid of ladders, and most of the largest en- 
trances were bloeked up with stones. I have remarked so far that 
these oaves are almost invariably situated near an important river 
janction, which would seem to point to the conclusion that they 
were 'royal residences' or ^capitals* of Man-tsz tribes; and, indeed, 
the great unwashed of that ilk could scarcely afford to hollow out a 
■tone oave for each family. Near one of the caves was an inscrip- 
tion in the rook : * The city-wall was built in Ch*dng-hwa*s reign/ 
(A.D. 1465); but I failed to discover any eigns of an ancient city 
in the neighbourhood. Very likely it refers to An-chii, a former 
district city, now belonging to T*ung-liang District, 30 li below 
Ta-ho Pa and 30 li above Wei T'o. As we cut across the bend 
which the river makes here, we did not see this place, nor the 
embouchnre of the river which comes from Loh-ohih and An-yoh. 
We saw no new trees to-day, and not so many of the sorts 
already observed ; but I succeeded in adding another half dozen to 
By collection of wild flowers. There are some pretty severe climbs 
between Wei T*o and Lu-lung P*u, a tea-house 18 li from Wei T*o. 
From that point to a fine fig-tree, the next resting place, whence 
is obtained a fine view of the river and of Ta-ho Pa, the road is 
fairly level for Sz Ch*nan. From the tree down to the town is 
nominally 6 /t, but in reality not more than a mile. 

Above Hob Chou the manners of the people are supposed to 
grow more frugal. A Christian photographer who was turning Tb. 
20 a month at Hob Chou, and who was next going to Ewang-an, 
said that there was no use in his going further north, as the people 
in that direction would not spend money. As the people I have 
hitherto travelled amongst in Sz Ch'uan themselves live like cattle 
and hostel me like a pig, I shudder to think what horrors are 
before me in the Spartan north. The inn at Ta-ho Pa was a sorry 
affair, drenched with piggy smells, and reminding me sorrowfully 
ef its namesake at the foot of Kin Shan, where, true, I slept like a 
«ow in a shippon, with twenty coolies in the same room a few feet 



A Journey in Korth Sz CJtivan. 61 

tboTe me, but, anyhow, enjoyed the fresh air ot nature. In spite 
of the extraordinary tilthiness of the Chinese in their household 
amngemente, I feel bound to record the opinion that, miserable 
though their habitations are, they are at least ill-built enough to 
be perforoe ventilated, and their atmosphere is not nearly so un- 
wholesome as that of many a crowded London theatre. 

At Ta-ho Pa I made my first acquaintance with 8z Ch'uan silk, 
—the yellow tort which abounds in the Pau-ning and Shun-k*ing 
Prefectures. At the inn there were also large numbers of coolies 
ooDTeying loads of Tls. 1,000 in silver to Mien Chou for purchase 
of lilk for the Ch*ung-k*ing trade. These loads are placed in the 
ino-keeper's chest at night, and somebody sleeps on the top; and 
the inn-keeper is responsible for losses which take place in his 
hotel. In a ease where I was robbed myself, the inn-keeper was at 
onoe made by the authority to pay the value of the missing articles. 
Bat, indeed, there is great security for property in this Province, 
and I doubt if anywhere else in the world a simple unarmed coolie 
oould travel dOO miles with £300 attached temptingly to the end of 
his pole. To return to the silk ; the Chinese say that the worms 
whioh eat the shui sang, (lit. water mulberry), produce yellow, 
and those which eat the ttz sang, (lit. young mulberry), produoe 
white silk ; and that both colours are produced, and both trees 
eaten, in Kia-ting Prefecture ; but this statement about the differ- 
ent mulberry leaves requires confirmation, and may be oompared 
with others made by Chinese in Kwei Chou, if reference be made to 
a former chapter. The ordinary silk mulberry is simply tang thu 
or kwang sang» The ye^sang, tna-sang, and shui-tang are little 
used for silk. During the winter the eggs are, in this part, kept 
in the family wardrobe or strong-box ; and, to use the native 
expression, are ' nourished by the perspiration in the clothes.* In 
the third moon, at the Ch*ing-ming Festival, they are taken oat 
and kept in the bosom for a few days, after whioh they are placed 
on bamboo trays, and fed for forty days on mulberry leaves, being 
carefully tended all this time. They then proceed to crawl up on 
hedge-like sticks or stalks placed handy for that purpose, and, in 
two days, they, and the cocoons they have spun around themselves, 
are ready for boiling. A little potash is put in the water * in order 
that the head of the worm may be found.* The silk I saw was kuo- 



6B Up the Tang-Ue, 

p*in'8Zf or silk which had had the benefit of two courses of water. 
The merchant said that eight cocoons went to the thread ; that the 
water used was nearly but not quite boiling ; and that most of his 
silk went to Shanghai. The ' books* which I saw hanging up for 
sale reminded me very much of the Japanese silks which I have 
seen unearthed from the recesses of Cutler Street and Fenchuroh 
Street for inspection by the Manchester manufacturer and his 
portly broker ; but the colour was darker and brighter. Each tsz, 
or twisted skein, weighed from six to eight ounces, and 10 isz 
went to the pa ; one hundred and sixty ounces make one ch^ing. 
The price on the spot was from 150 to 210 cash the ounce, — about 
the price of opium, (which, however, is much cheaper this year). 
It was market day at Ta-ho Pa, and a very brisk silk trade was 
being done ; but I shall have more to say upon this anon. 

Our course the next day was still north-west, perhaps a little 
more west. We followed the left bank of the T^ung-ch*uan Eiver 
as far as Shih-hsing Ch*iao, 18 /tfrom Ta-ho Pa, and crossed to 
the right bank at Sz-fang Pei, three li above Te-mao Ch*i, 22 U 
from Shih-hsing Ch'iao. All the above places are in the District 
of P'dng-oh'i, 280 li distant, by a very difficult mountain road of 
four stages, from Sz-fang Pei. Directly we had crossed, we found 
ourselves in a ootton and tobacco country, the former crop just 
above ground, the latter almost ready for picking. Great quan- 
tities of an earlier crop were being stretched on light wicker frames 
and dried in the snn. I did not know until to>day that there were 
two sorts of taro ; the thui-yu, which grows in the the slop-lands ; 
and the han-yii which grows on the slopes. We now followed the 
right bank as far as Tsz-t*ung ChSo, 30 li beyond Te-mao Ch*i, 
passing, about half way, the boundary between P*dng-oh*i and 
Sai-ning, of which latter District Tsz-t'ung is a sub-district. 
Beyond this place the river takes two very sharp bends within 
the short space of a mile, forming the rapid of Ewan-tau Shih. 
We happened to arrive at the corner of the headland which com- 
mands a view of the bends just at the moment that two huge empty 
junks were descending. One nearly ran its fore-sweep foul of a 
large ooal barge which was painfully ascending by another channel, 
and the other ran aground as it was turning a sharp corner. This 
headland is a place of some celebrity. All elevated points which 



A Journey in J^orth Sz CJiivan, 63 

tarmooDt dangers are semi-saored io China ; and in this case a 
ooloasal Buddha, siztj feet in height and forty in hreadth, has 
been earned out of the solid rock. A seven-tiered roof, slanting 
backwards, and somewhat resemhling that of Blakiston's 8hih-pao 
Chai on the Upper Yang-tsze, covers in the Buddha, and forms a 
■ort of telescope case for him. The sight of such a stupendous 
work slightly overawed my coolies, who performed a few obeisances. 
A larger Buddha, similar in other respects to this, is said to exist 
in Lo-shan District of Kia-ting Fu, and one very little smaller 
three H outside of Jung Hien near Thz-Hu Ching. We now entered 
upon a remarkahle plain called Tlia Pa, or Hsia-hsien Pa, which 
extends in all directions about two miles, and is almost literally 
* as flat as a pancake,* a few hamlets and tombs only breaking the 
expanse. At thif season of the year, it is nearly covered with 
cotton, and in the winter with the P'*ppy and carrots. This region 
is noted also for its pea-nuts {ArachtB hijp<nj(Bu\ which now occu- 
pied also no inconsiderable part of the plain. The native cotton is 
otiuttidered superior to that imported from Hankow, (generically 
called Kwang-hica^ i.e. Hu Kwang cotton), and was selling on the 
spot fur over 300 cash the Chinese pound. Hu Kwang seeds have 
alto been planted in Sui-ning District; buti could not distinguish 
the plant from the local t^u-hwa. 

The cotton which is imported into Ch'ung-k*ing comes from 
seven places or centres. Shanghai and T'ung Chou in Kiang 8a 
ProviiiCe; Hwang-chou Fu, Kiang K*ou, Tung Shih, the Li or 
' Inner ' Kiver (behind or north-east of Sha Shih), and Sha Shih ; 
all in Hu Peh Province. The best description, Chia-Ksiang, or 
'home sort,* from Hwang Chou, the place whence most of the 8s 
Ch'uan importers hail, is known by the name of Chien-chwang or 
'sturdy.' The next best comes from Shanghai, Kiang K'ou and 
T'ung Chou, and are about even in quality. The Li Kiver and 
Tung Shih sorts also run even. The cotton from Sha Shih ia the 
worst in quality. In all cases but that of Sha Shih the balee 
weigh about the same, that is 180 catties, or almost exactly two 
hundred -weight ; the Sha Shih bale is about 20 catties lighter. 
The price of all kinds of cotton was in September 1880 from Tit. 5 
to Tls. 6 a- bale dearer than towards the close of the year and the 
beginning of 1S81. It is said that one of the chief reasons waa 



64 Up the Yang-ise. 

that the Shanghai market had been glutted in oonsequenoe of the 
small purchases made by the Tientsin traders, who were appre- 
hensive of a war with Russia, and consequently slow to speculate. 
Every bale of cotton that passes the Custom House at E'wei-chou 
Fu has to pay Taels 0172 duty, and as much likin. On arrival at 
Ch'ung-k*ing every bale has to pay further seven candareens 
octroi^ or loti shut. All cotton imported into Ch'ung-k'ing must 
be reported at, and sold in conformity with, the customs of the 
hang^ or [cotton] guild, whose wholesale scale weighs 17^^ ounces 
to the catty. The buyer elects how many bales he will weigh 
from each parcel purchased, and is free, if he chooses, to weigh 
them all. Before weighing, the tare is removed, and the cotton 
alone is placed in the scale. A discount of from 4 per cent to 6 per 
cent is allowed when the credit does not exceed 6 months. The 
buyer has to pay the ftang Taels 016 for each bale purchased, and 
the seller one per cent of the price received, which would amount 
to another two mace. In return the hang guarantees to the seller 
the quality of the silver (ch*i mai chu) two mace. The taxation and 
hong charges laid on each bale of cotton, from the time it passes 
E*wei Ewan to the time it reaches the consumer's hands, thus 
amount to about Tls. 08 a bale, or about five per cent on its cost 
price in Hu Peh and Kiang Su. Freight and charges on all kinds 
from Hankow to Ch*ung-k*ing come to about Tls. 5 the bale. The 
cotton thus sold by the importers (isz-hao) to the dealers (p^u-Uz) 
at 17)^0 ounces to the catty, is retailed by the latter to the scutchers 
(t^an hwa) at the rate of 18 ounces to the catty. The scutchers 
again retail it to the people for wadding or weaving purposes at 
the usual rate of 16 ounces to the catty. There is some difficulty 
however in ascertaining the custom regarding these variable 

scales. 

The following were the importers' prices ruling at Ch'ung- 
k'ing at about the commencement of September, 1881 : — 

1. Chia-hsiang, equal to Tls. 17-18 the 100 catties. 

2. Shanghai, equal to Tls. 19.0 the 10 ) catties. 

3. Chiang K*ou and T'ung Chow, equal to Tls. 18.0 the 100 

catties. 

4. Li lliver and Tung Shih, equal to Tls. 17.0 the 100 oattiet. 

5. Sha Shih, equal to Tls. 16-17 the 100 catties. 



A Journey in Xorth Sz Cliivan. Go 

At the zodiacal term Pai^lu (about the eighth of September) 
great feasting and rejoicing takes place amongst the Ch*ung-k*ing 
eotton traders if it rains ; for then, it is said, it will rain day after 
daj, and the price of cotton rise : if, on the other hand, it does not 
rain, the rice pot is reversed, and no feasting takes place. 

Cotton re-exported from Ch'ung-k*ing has to pay an export 
kkin of Taels 0172 the bale, and the same amount again on 
passing or landing at Lu Chow. Cotton not deposited at Ch*UQg- 
k*ing merely pays a transit duty of Tls. 009. 

A considerable quantity of cotton is also grown in Sz Ch'uan. 
The best comes from Sui-ning, (where there is a market for it), Ta- 
tso, She-hung, T*ung-liang, and An-yo, all a little to the north- 
west of Ch*ung-k*ing, but only in good years does this suffice 
for local consumption. The Sz Ch'uan market, which also sup- 
plies part of Ylin Nan, is affected by the import of Burmese 
cotton into the latter province from Ava. The Burmese cotton is 
of longer fibre than the Chinese, but is not so warm. At present 
it is not found beyond Hwui-li Chou; but it is said that the 
Kwang Si roads into Yiin Nan are once more being opened, which 
may explain the fact. 

In the year 1856, and again in the year 1862, Surata were 
imported tid Shanghai into Ch*ung-k*ing, but they would not sell, 
as the material had not sufficient warmth. 

The above account of the taxation on cotton is open to doubt. 
Some say that the taxation at I-ch*ang is 400 cash the bale, and 
the total exaction at K*wei Kwan Tls. 096. The discrepancy ia 
considerable; but probably the Tls. 0172 previously alluded to ia 
on the 100 catties, and Ukin may be more than double the regular 
duty. 

Crossing a low range of red sandstone hills, we descended 
upon the market town of Shwang-chiang Chda, which; strange to 
say, ia not built on the river, but half a mile away from it Here 
we pnt up for the day, having made a very good 100 it. All the 
way from Kan-tien tsz, (where we took our first day's breakfast), 
the country has been remarkably red, and its mountainous aspect 
has given way to what may be better described as 'hilly.' From 
Hoh Chou, andy indeed, from a day's distance south of lioh Chou, 
the hills have had a strange circular, teleaooped appearance, and 



66 Up the Tan^-tse. 

Mudstone hMM leeraed grtdoallj to lofteii into sand. The ooimtrj 
luw not been lo plentifnllj wooded as lonth of and near to Ch'ong- 
king ; bnty with the exception of pinea and firs, which disappear 
with the monntainsy there is little change in the natnre of the treea. 
Molberries grow more plentifully the farther north yoa go, and the 
kwang-koh 9hu grows larger. Perhaps the commonest tree of all 
is the T^ung-tsz {AleuriUt temieia) now in fruit in CTerj possible 
situation. I succeeded in getting specimens, with flowers, of all 
trees but the hwang-koh. Oar jonmej this day was a trifle more 
to the west, bat, roundly speaking, still north-west The bound- 
ary between Hoh Chou and P'^g-ch*i on the left bank is near the 
rapid of Kwa-fu T^sn, about a mile to the south-east of Shih- 
hsing Ch4ao. At this spot I saw a lort of grey heron, which the 
Chinese called a eh^ing ehwang. I saw no other wild fowl of any 
description whatever : man is much too thick in Eastern Sz Ch'uan 
to permit of birds finding a quiet spot. An unusual number of 
hemps attracted my attention, and I gathered specinMns wherever 
I could. Yams and lotuses were the only other horticultural 
novelties for the day. 

The stages to Sui-ning are Yao-chia Tien, 12 /»; Hwang-chia 
Ch'iao, 25 /t'; and Sz-t4 P*u, 50 /i ; all from Shwang-chiang. At 
Yao-chia Tien, I was overtaken by a French priest, and we had a 
glass of port wine together on an ashpit, — much the cleanest handy 
spot, either inside or outside the hotel enclosure. For the first 
time I saw a field of saffron flowers, but withered, and waiting to 
be plucked up. 

The chief centres of the safflower trade in Sz Ch'uan are the 
environs of Shun.k*ing and Kien Chou (near Ch'eng-tu), though 
other places produce the article in unimportant quantities. The 
total production of the above-named two centres in average years 
probably faHs little short of Tls. 800,000 a year in value; and, 
Shun-k4ng stands for about twice as much as Kien Chou. The 
superior or Shun-k4ng variety, called by the Shanghai Delegates 
k*%cai-t9z hwOf was described to me as p*ien-tsz hwa or 'sliced 
saffron.* And of this there are two qualities, the pe lu or 'north- 
ern,' and the nan lu or ' southern,' of which the former excels the 
latter in both quantity and quality. After the 'heart' of the 
tiuwer has been removed, the remainder is pounded in a trough^ 



A Jouryiey in Jiorth Sz Cliuan. 67 

sut trodden upon by men in a sort of ditch ; and the more com- 
pletely it is pounded, the better is the quality : the yellow water is 
then allowed to drain off, and the sodden flowers are heaped up to 
dry. The next thing is to press the flowers in a machine, and 
carre them into slices or cakes, which weigh from one to one-and- 
a-half mace apiece. The customs of the Shun-k*ing trade are said 
to be simple and honourable. Brokers are employed both by the 
buyer and by the seller, who make their purchases from samples. 
The samples are weighed, boiled, and again washed clear of their 
* yellow water.' They are once more boiled in potash water, and 
the colour is taken upon coarse paper pulp, with the aid of a 
blackish liquid obtained from a decoction of the wu-tneif or * black 
plum :* this brings out the red colour, and the pulp is allowed to 
dry during a day upon the table, when the buyer can judge the 
quality of the dye. The best sil?er without deductions or discounts 
is alone used by the trade, and after the market (p*an'tn) has 
been opened {k*ai p*an) no change is made in the price fixed for 
each quality during the season ; but, according to the briskness or 
otherwise of demand, the * scale' is raised or lowered. The first 
scale is always lOd catties actual for 100 catties nominal, and the 
price is fixed by a senior broker in conclaTe. The blocks of shoes, 
weighing five catties each, are carefully packed in bags protected 
by oiled canvas. By the custom of the trade certain perquisites, 
called hwo hwa and kwei hwa, are allowed by the seller to the 
purchaser's servants, and the purchaHlDg broker presents the 
samples yang kwa to the buyers. The whole of these perquisites 
together, which are perhaps distributed in a way not quite accur- 
ately described above, amount to about five catties the pao^ or 2^ 
per cent. The sales at 8hun k*iog used to average about 6,000 
bags (pao) a year, each bag weighing as near as may be 200 
oatties. The highest prices within the past 10 years have been 
Tls. 60 per 100 catties, ordinary scale ; but this year (1881) they 
were as low as Tls. 046 the catty, or Tls. 46 the 100 catties, at 130 
the scale. The 8hun-k*ing description is that most purchased by 
exporting merchants, for sale at Hankow, Shanghai and in Japan. 
About 400 bags were exported during the 1881 season. 

The k*o-t9z or chu-Ut hung-hwa^ from Kien Chou, is not, as 
•tated by the Shanghai Delegates, made out of the heart of the 



Tuietr u tlttl it is pialfffi ^*^imt irafjtAi cd btdxf mmde up isto 
iiioM ; msd ©onBeqatxtlj ti* I-e-ilj* art irriigTa*^ mjti tW dj« is 
co«r«T, «ad brtUr tcsit^ fts" crrtr «f:«!ii3iic<ii cCjAii. C»a lb* otber 
ktsd« til* dje, tb^.'iiyrii too Bjuci «^L»j^*4 ^tb • Telk»w vmtcr«* is 
■Kve Imitis^ ukd tPAiekcs. Tz)« priw per I{*D cattie&, k asnsUj 
less br 10 per eect tiisa that of Si.^B-k-ill|^ 

Ififerior sorts are provs, ztot olIt in Ho 2^ai), bat also ia Ton 
Kaa SBd Hvni-li Cb?m Kltfi-cii^anr). 

Tke greatest denand for sai&>ver vas ab>Gt the rean 1S49- 
62, vben tbe production at SLmn-ki££ r&aebcd IdOO bs^ a jear. 
Bnt red aniline djes [p'ui &vikg> which, though less tenacious, are 
easier of manipolation, hsTe larfelr rrpla««dtbe s&fflover dje in 
6x Chilian, espeeiallj in the ease of red paper. OjnaBi, too^ whieh 
appears to spread ererTwhere in Si Ch'iian, has taken its plaee as 
a ^ring erop. 

I also got a speeinien of the pao'ki'Ua0 or * crackling flea,' a 

tree which has been identified bj some with the wax tree. A mile 

or two bej-cmd 6i-tH P'a, we passed a road running off west to 

P*eng-ch'i, 150 /t from the spot in qaestion. This road erxMses the 

rirer at Lo-tai T'o, 12 &' awaj. There are 50 more id from Si-t*i 

P'n to 8ai-ning Hien, the chief places passed being T*ien-ch*ih 

Ch'iao, 18 /< from the former, and Lang-f^g Chiang, 20 li from 

the latter. The last 20 U 'are over part of the celebrated Nan Pa, 

the second largest flat space in Sz Ch'nan. It is about 20 miles 

long north and south, bj from four to eight broad, and in June is 

covered with cotton, sesame, Barbadoes millet, pea-nuts, and a 

drug, extensively culti?ated here, called pih chih, (t Iris 

florenttna)^ of which I haye secured flower, leaf, and root They 

say that it does not matter much if the cotton gets little rain, 

uuless this little positively dwindles to almost nothing : the soil is 

grey and sandy, and the country looks like a cross between the 

rustic environs of Shanghai and the western part of the Peking 

plain. The ground is never allowed any rest, — opium, carrots, 

beann, and pih chih forming the winter crops. At Tsz-t'ung and 

Tu-ho Pa, where there was a good deal of Shanghai cotton, the 

hitter was quoted at Tls. 18 to 19 the 100 catties, and native at 

Tls. '1\. The chief trade uf the river is, however, in coal upwards, 



^i Journey in XoHh Sz Cli*ican. 61 

tnd salt downwards, grain going both ways according to ruling 
prioea. At Hwang-kwo Shu, (a place already elsewhere described), 
OQ the Hoh Chou RiTer, half way between Ch'ung-k*ing and Hoh 
ChoQ, and opposite Pd-pei above mentioned, a local pioul (2,500 
eatties!) of coal oo^ts about Tls. 3.5, or, say, two cash a catty at 
the wharf. Ten or a dozen men are required to drag the boat up 
to Sui-ning and Yang-tau Ch*i, each man receiving about 2,000 
eath for the journey. The coal sells at the salt wells for about 
four oash the catty. The riverine population is largely supported 
by this clumsy trade, which, in accordance with Chinese principles, 
it oalculated rather to distribute industry than to develop it. A 
oertaio number of monopoly Districts, ChUing-k'ing, (both banks), 
Chung Chou, Wan Uien, Nan-ch*uan, Fu Chou, &o., are obliged 
to consume a certain proportion of Little River salt; on the other 
band, the wells could supply much more if the 'consumption 
routes' were left unfettered. P*eng-ch*i Hien also produces large 
quantities of salt, and supplies by overland carriage, for which 
' myriads' of porters are required, 8hun-k*ing Fu, Yo-ch*ih Hien, 
Kwang-an Chou, Ting-yOan Hien, Liang-shan Uien, P'dng Chou, 
Ta-chuh Hien, Jung-shan Hien, and E*ii Hien. The production 
of P*dng-oh4 is about 20,000 tons a year. Strange to say, Sui- 
ting Fu, above K'U Uien, takes, up the river, the Tsz-liu Ching 
•alt, which is also consumed in K*ai Hien, Tung-hiang Hien, and 
T'ai-p'iog Hien. The monopoly Districts which consume a pro- 
portion of Little River salt are also bound to consume a share of 
Great River salt. 

8ui-ning is an important District, with 32 licentiates, and 
nearly Tls. 100,000 land-tax, counting all exactions. Like Shwang- 
ohiang, it is situated half a mile away from the river. It is 
reported to be a dissolute town, but I found a most agreeable 
change in the manners and facial ezprehsiou of the people. The 
native of Ch*ung-k'ing, and within 100 miles radius, is to my 
thinking one ot the least pKa&ing specimens of the Chinese race. 
It was quite exhilarating to gi t amongst honest faces once more, 
and many were the pleasant running conversations I had at the 
tea-houses or with the rustics alonj; the road. But, alas ! it did 
not last long ; in fact, it ended with the first market-town in 
8hc-hung District, a mile from the P'rng-ch*i boundary. After 



70 Up the Yan^-ise. 

leETing Sui-ning city we continued along the plain until we got 
into a region of mao grass, a sort of marsh j juok which not even 
pigs will eat, but which is valuable for fuel. Shih-chi Sz is 20 li 
from the town, and, after breakfasting here, and holding a plea- 
sant conTersation with the robust old landlord, a man of 78 years 
of age (who remarried and begat at 63), crossed by ferries two hao, 
or semi-stagnant branches of the river running through the dank 
grass. Talking of old men, I noticed an unusual number of them 
about this time, and remarked also a hairiness and difference in 
facial type, which led me to surmise that the people belonged to 
the lao piitf or ' old stock,' a few isolated groups of which, (as, for 
instance, east of the Kung-t'an River), escaped the great massacre 
of the seventeenth century. But, no ! they all insisted upon it 
that they or their ancestors came from Hu Ewang and Eiang Si ; 
and, moreover, I listened in vain for traces of dialectic differences. 

Having now described a two hundred mile circle round 
Ch'ung-k'ing, and passed along half-a-dozen radii, I find that in 
DO quarter, (with the exception of purely local and rustic uncouth- 
nesses), does the language vary sufficiently to deserve any separa- 
tion into dialects, and over all this space the language differs in a 
very slight degree from that spoken at Hankow. The main points 
of difference are, (1) that the departing tone is the same in sound as 
that of the Foochow Dialect, (but this distinction from that of the 
Hankow Dialect would not be perceptible to persons only knowing 
the latter) ; (2) that the i vowel, which at Peking is in many cases 
in a transition state with o, has entirely disappeared, and given 
place to the Canton e ; (3) that a final g is often placed after the 
syllables ending in an. But it is a dialect, and I hope to go into 
it at length on a future occasion, merely adding now that it differs 
on the whole less from the Hankow Dialect than the Tientsin 
Dialect does from that of Peking. Persons not regarding tones 
would consider that it differed much more; but with Chinese 
dialects tones are of great scientific, even though of small practical, 
importance as some insist. 

Well, to return to our journey, we reached the inn of T'ang- 
ehia Tien, 20 li from Shih-chi Sz, as we debarked after five U 
of a boat from the second ferry, and found ourselves once more 
on the left bank in P*dng-ch4 District. Jan-chia Tien is 12 



^4 Journey in Xorth Sz CJiuan, 71 

li farther on ; and now the ooantry becomes more hilly, and 
very moch barer and lees productive. We pass over the ya- 
Ir'ou or neck of Ts'ao-sz Ta, and look down upon another 
pa-tszt or fli^t spit, around which the river bends, cultivated 
like those already described, and known as Ch'ang-p'inf( Pa. 
We descend and traverse this, always in the same north- 
westerly direction, and in a short time come upon our first salt- 
wells. Then we pass under a * virtuous ' arch, over a remarkably 
picturesque roofed bridge which forms the boundary between P'dng- 
oh*i and Shd-hung, and enter the thriving town of Ch*ing-ch*i 
Tu, the place where, as I have said, the honest faces most 
abound, and beyond which they cease. I held a sort of reception 
whilst we were getting our things into the boat, and harangued 
the curious but good-tempered crowd. We crossed once more 
to the right bank, and made our way through a barren grassy 
jungle to a spot 10 /i distant oppohite Yung-tau Ch'i, where we 
again took boat for a mile up, and were finally deposited on the left 
bank both of the river, and of a creek running into it at Yang-tao 
Ch*i, the great salt region. This creek is crossed by a bridge of 
planks, supported by numerous strong stone piers, and is navigable 
some little distance up for small boats. The total salt production 
of Shd-hung Hien is about 30,000 tons a-year, of which YaDg-oh4 
Chen or Yang-tau Ch'i produces about 20,000, the precise figure 
for the latter being five yiVi a day. Each yin here consists of 50 
paof and ench pan, of 160 nominal and 240 actual catties. I 
fortunately happened to come across the chief salt merchant, who 
is a very friendly man, and he showed me round both wells and 
boiling houses. He also showed me that the gross production of 
Tsz-liu Ching and Kung Ching together, pan-salt and granular, 
was 7,000 ym a-roonth, or 48,000 yiVi a-year ; making allowance 
for local consumption and peculation, say, 85,000. A yi'n, on the 
average, there now consists of 10,000 catties, or 7} tons; so that 
600,000 tons may be safely put down as the gross annual produc- 
tion of the Fu-shun River. 

The wells of the T'ung-ch'uan {i.e. variously, the Hob Chon, 
8hd-hung, or Little) River are very insignificant affairs compared 
with those of Tsz-liu Ching. There is no natural fire or gaa ; they 
range only from 200 to 000 feet in depth; they are worked 



72 Up the Yan^'tse. 

eDtirelj bj tvo or three mea apieee ; their kan-Vou or degree of 
•altness ooly ranges from 5 to 20 per oent ; and few of the wells 
jield more than a eoaple of backets ni^ht and morning. Otot the 
well stands a large wheel, something like a mammoth ChinsM 
spinning-wheel, about ten feet in diameter and two feet aeross the 
' tire-edge,* which is made like a treadmill or white-mouse wheel. 
The bamboo rope falls over the edge into the tiny well, and sap- 
ports a Talved bamboo bucket not more than two or three inehea 
io diameter, and about thirty feet long, but not so highly finished^ 
nor yet so strung as those at Tsz-lia Chiog. When this has 
reached the bottom, it has to be ' jabbed ' by gentle treads off and 
on agaiast the slush below, which furoes its way up drop by drop 
through the Talve. Then two men walk round the wheel half a dozen 
times, and the tube is hauled up. The quality of the salt is better 
than that of Tsz-liu Chini? ; and, moreoTer, it is of snowy whiteness, 
to obtain which the p*H-H fruit (of which I obtained a fresh speci- 
men) is in some way used. The value of the brine is about 400 eash 
the 100 catties, and few wells produce more than 100 catties each 
night and morning. No one sells the brine, but each boiler owns 
a dozen or more of wells. The piercing of the wells only takes 
a few months, and is dune in much the same way as at Tsz-lia 
Ching. The coal is the chief expense in the manufacture, eight 
local tou of 50 catties each, at from 4 to 6 cash the catty, being 
required for each cake of 160 nominal (i.e, 240 actual) catties. 
The pans cost from Tls. 9 to Tls. 10 each; all come from F6ng-ta 
below Ch*ung-k*ing, and each pan makes on the average 40 cakes, 
the merchant considering that 400 cash wear and tear of the pan 
must be added to the cost of each cake. The iron is bought here 
as well as the use of the pans, (which are not very much larger or 
thicker than the very largest kitchen pans), and thus of course the 
boiler can sell the old iron. Then the lekin and charges of about 
8 cash the catty in all, which (levied on 160 catties) make another 
1,200 cash ; besides which wages, oil, ropes, sticks, &c., in all bring 
up each cake of 160 ufhcial catties to about 4,500 cash, or nearly 
30 cash the catty, — the selling price as far as Hoh Chou. The 
freight to (:h*ung-k*ing is 14,000 cash the yin of 8,000 (12,000) 
catties, — say 10 tons ; which adds, with minor expenses, another 
two cash the catty ; so that things would most evidently be worked 



A Journey in Jforth Si CJiuan. 73 

at a loss unless, as above explained, a spade (i.e. 240) was not 
called a spade ((.«. 160). The largest boilers only own 10 pans, 
and the majority bat one or two. It is easy to estimate the 
riTerine import of coal. Shd-hung produces 3,000 yin a year, or 
150,000 packages, each requiring 400 catties of coal. But only 
half the salt above Yang-tao Ch'i is worked with coal ; so that we 
may strike off 30,000 packages, and say 60,000,000 catties or 
80,000,000 pounds of coal a year, almost exactly 50,000 tons. 
Roundly speaking, therefore, two pounds of coal are required for 
a pound of salt. 

Crossing over the creek by the plank bridge, we traverse an- 
other flat expanse of jungle and cotton, and reach the village of 
P'n-chia Hao, 15 li from Yang-tao Gh'i, passing numerous salt 
wells and boiling houses on the way. Most of the cotton on this 
flat seems to be from Hu Kwang seed. We then again cross 
over in a ricketty old boat to the right bank at Wu-siang Ngai, 
and enter some more jungle. In a short time we come in sight of 
T'ai-ho Chdn, 15 more /i, a business place which bears much the 
same relation to Northern 8z Ch'uan that King-te Chdn does to 
Kiang 8i. The whole aspect of the country has now changed, and 
the usual Red Basin configuration completely vanishes. Yellow 
sandstone, sandy soil, bald and woodless hills, flat plains at their 
feet between the bends of the river ; these take the place of the red 
soil and wooded hills, the incessant crevasses and creeks, and the 
varied crops. Sorghum and cotton are now almost the only things 
to be seen besides the coarse grass. Both the country and the 
people with their houses begin to remind one of the North, and the 
atmosphere is fresh and cool. Before entering the very large 
town of T'ai-ho Chdn, we pass a tremendous collection of black 
buildings, a sort of mixture between a theatre, a market, and a 
temple ; the place seems, indeed, to be a vegetable market. I was 
(airly taken aback by the size and business-like look of T'ai-ho 
Chen. A new wall has of recent years been built of granite 
blocks, well fitted together, and very neat It is about 20 feet 
high by 12 broad, and is paved with slabs of granite several 
inches thick. Though of course not so bulky as the walls of many 
an eastern Chinese city, it is certainly, taken all in all, amongst 
the most respectable 1 have ever seen in China, or, in fact, any- 



7-4 Tip the Fang'tse, 

where. The plain ia whioh the towa stands is so flat that it it 
very difficult to get a fair view of the whole town, or to form an 
estimate of the population ; hut I should think that, hoth in size 
and numbers, it exceeded Cheung- kHng. I do not think there ia 
in Ch'nng-k'ing any one street so long and well stocked as that I 
passed through at T'ai-ho Ch6n, and I only saw a fraction of the 
town. The importance of Ch'ung-k*ing seems to me to have been 
systematically exaggerated by all travellers, who haye probably 
been misled by the reports of traTclling Sz-ch*nanese who are in- 
ordinately proud of their filthy city, but most of its trade is simply 
like that of Hongkong, which has been of recent years laid by 
some at a stupendous figure ; that is, full-laden ships stop there 
for a few hours, or, what is the same thing to Chinese, days. The 
actual trade is, I believe, very much indeed below that of any two 
of Hoh Chou, Fu Chou, and Lu Chou together. In very round 
numbers, j£l,0(K),000 sterling of eaeh of cotton, drugs, opium, 
piece-goods, and salt pass through and are transhipped ; and that 
is all. Canton, besides, being quite as much a centre of distribu- 
tion, is a hive of varied industry, whilst most of that whioh 
goes up and down to and from Ch*ung-k4ng passes Hankuw 
first. In point of internal resources, I doubt if one-twentieth of 
the Canton wealth hoard could be found in Ch*ung-k*ing, and in 
refinement and civilization the latter is infinitely below the 
former. 

Shen Si opium was advertised for sale in T*ai-ho ChSo : silk 
and cotton, with native piece-goods, were the most valuable goods 
exposed, but there were quantities of iron and other metals, grass, 
and hemp cloths, —in fact of everything but foreign goods. The 
main street was much broader than any Ch*ung-k*ing street, and, 
besides, had covered causeways on each side equally broad. So 
far, I have never seen a single wheeled vehicle in Sz Ch'uan, and 
not very many mules and horses ; certainly not one single donkey. 
A mile below this place, there is rather a serious rapid called 
Tang-chia T'an, where the river descends like a wedge between 
two shingly banks. Above, again, is an equally bad rapid called 
Lo-sz-ts'z. We pass over another cotton plain after leaving T'ai- 
ho Chdn, and mount up to a rock (Mu-k*un Ya) above the rapid : 
then we follow the lower of two roads along the bank, and pass a 



A Journey in J^orth Sz Cliuan. 75 

large number of salt wells. Thete are different from those at 
Tang-tao Ch4 in that they are worked by a pulley at the top of 
•omewhat larger shears than the mere sticks used lower down* 
The fuel used is chiefly jungle grass, enormous stacks of which are 
piled up near the boiling bouses. Salt could be distinctly seen 
ooffing out of the soil like hoar-frost. In addition to using the 
well-water, the saltness of which was only 12 per cent., lumps of 
mud were placed in huge mud Tats or cisterns, and slaked with 
fresh water, which filtered through a pipe below, and had an 
tnereased kan-Vou of 30 per cent There was no waste here ; the 
smoke from the furnace was conducted through another Tat of 
mud bricks, and the mud furnace itself was taken to pieces and 
boiled down eTcry few days, in order that cTery atom of salt might 
be got out of the business. Working night and day, the owner of 
the fiTe pans, I saw, said he could raise two cakes, and that he oon- 
•vimed 8,000 cash worth of fuel in the operation. He had to get 
considerably oTcr 5,000 cash for each cake of 240 catties in order 
not to be a loser, — that is, exactly a penny a catty, or about ten- 
pence a stone. His other information agreed with that of my 
preTious friend. I suspect, howcTer, that he exaggerated the coet 
of his fuel under the impression that I was some official on the 
look-out for profits. We now once more left the riTer and out 
•cross a barren piece of country, in which, howcTer, were numerous 
walnut trees. This led us up a steep ascent to Shou-shih Ya, 
where an old woman suddenly flung herself on her knees before 
me, and begged for assistance, as she had no money wherewith to 
pay her trsTelling expenses back to To-ch*ih Hien, six days away. 
Remembering a similar case which, as narrated, turned out to be a 
feint, 1 crosa-examined the old lady so closely that she burst into 
tears under the operation. It seems that she had stumped it all 
alone in order to bring some cloth to the market, and Tcry probably 
had the proceeds in her pocket, or in some of the holes or rags of 
which she was outwardly composed. She estimated her expanses 
at from one and a penny three-farthinga to two-pence and one six- 
teenth a day, as she would eat at least two ' oats' polls ' a day, 
(i.e. two bowls of rice clapped tight into one). I accoi^ingly order- 
ed up 300 cash— about thirteen pence, — and begged the old woman 
to man-man hwui-elna ch^iif or *get her quietly home,' a duty whioh, 



r^r Up thft i'ang'THf, 

h^atfjuidin^ irifm Shua-ioih. Tx, I aOiierr^i t4s ch« kft a re- 
MarkahU itMi«, vkkd raeanbLed a iia;ff» zrioaii^ BtMsker fqual- 
timf^ «o iU has* and haatii, aad. fttran^ eiL-reiiia^stieev to-dar w« 
|af<<i tvo ■«& villi ]1t9 maakij^ atLich.«d ta leading strings. 
Jott before reaehis; Sli^-lian^, we pojKsi 0T«r a Terr sUong and 
moMt fiat hrAg^ of iaaieiue bl<>ekj of stace which spans a small 
mcT nmaiag ap to Cbin-shili Win. Tlie aaTi^iim of the T^nag- 
eii^aaa Hirer for the Ur^est-sized jinks e^f^es at T^ai-ho Ch^ : 
abcrre tbat point the rirer is still a fine and noble stream^ bat there 
are nnmerooa rapids and sbaUows whieh do not permit of moeh 
draught. Notwithstanding this, Terj comfortable looking eraft, 
capable of earry ing a ton or two of cargo, and perhaps 100 pas- 
sengersy abound on the higher rirer. The aneroid (which most 
baTe gone np with the fine weather) makes She-hang Hien only 
760 feet above the sea. Bat this mast be at least 100 feet onL 
Shl-bong is a poor and bleak-looking place, inside and oat, and in 
Ite furronndings. The silk in this part of the eoantry, whieh I 
oeeasionally taw being wound off on to the wheel, looks a purer 
eolour than that we saw at Ta-ho Pa : it is also done up in differ- 
ent skeins, and, instead of being twisted, is gathered in at one 
end, and neatly tied into a knot. It looks almost like the golden 
half of a fair English child, — which brings me round to the sub- 
ject of women. Thejr decidedly improve the more north jou get, 
and look more healthy, vigorous, and good-natured. Maternity 
and womanliness have never appeared to me so poorly idealized as in 
the hobbling, dirty, noisy, unwholesome women of interior China. 
Here, too, they have small feet, but not quite so painfully small as 
in more civilized spots. I have not as yet seen a single large Chi- 
nese female foot in 8z Ch'uan, and I am sure if I did I should fall 
in love with it, — there would be so much human nature in it, — 
whalover the face was like. 

Ko salt comes from above Sh£-hung town, at least to the west, 
the only trade of which is in silk, cotton, (native), and opium : the 
people look a8 haggard and miserable as their country. We fol- 
lowed I ho right bank of the River to Yaug-chia Pa, passing on the 
wny the boundary of San-t'ai Uien,~the District city of T'ung- 



A Journey in Ji'ovtk Sz Ch'uan, 77 

ch*uan Fu. The country gets more and more barren, and we see 
nothing but rush, brake, sorghum, and cotton. Healthy-looking 
rustios were flocking to the fair at Yang-chia Pa, with their poor 
simple wares, the total value of which for the day I should not 
place at above £100, including the silk. We leave the river for a 
short time after quitting Yang-cliia Pa, to rejoin it, after crossing 
a pats, at Ma-i-tung, the most dangerous rapid on the river. Its 
oonfignration is not unlike that of the celebrated Yang-kwo Ch*i 
Rapid on the Kung-t'an River, but its depth and velocity is of 
course nothing like so overwhelming. We can now see the pagoda 
of T'ung-ch'uan Fu to the west-north-west, and, descending into 
the small flat plain in which it stands, we cross by the ferry a 
small river running past the south side of the city, and enter by 
the south gate. The small river in question is navigable up to 
Cbung-kiang Ilien, 120 /i: indeed it is navigable for small boats 
up to I/O-kiang Hien ; but, owing to the falling off of trade in that 
direction, this latter traffic has almost ceased. Cotton, silk, and 
opium are the chief productions of T*ung-ch*uan Fu, a Prefecture 
having under it the eight Districts of 8an-t'ai, Shd-hung, Y'en- 
t*ing, Chung-kiang, Sui-ning, An-yo, Lo-chih, and P'eng-ch*i, and 
the Sub-prefecture of T'ai-lio Chdn. Opium had been selling at 
60 cash and 120 cash the ounce, fresh or dry respectively, and had 
been very plentiful ; but, of course, it was too late in the season 
for me to see with my own eyes. But none of Hoh-chou, Sui-ning, 
Dor Sh^-hun^ produce anything like so much as Pa Uien or Yung- 
ch'uaD. The quantity of cotton did not strike me so forcibly as 
that of the silk, which was hanging up in the shops, being hawked 
about the streets, and being carried into town by numerous rustics. 
Like that we had seen at Shd-hung, it was left free as taken off 
the wheel, with the exception that it was knotted near one end in 
order to keep it from ravelling. The price varied from IGO cash 
to 180 the ordinary ounce ; but it was usually quoted at 210 to 
250 cash the local ounce, being i^^ of a catty containing 20 ounces 
instead of ^^ of a catty containing 16. The local in or skein, as 
taken off the wheel, was usually about two ounces, but I bought a 
oouple which only weighed two (local) ounces between them. The 
local />u, or ' book,* consists of 80 ordinary ounces. 1 witnessed 
the winding operations in several places. A woman sits on one 



7S Up the Tang'tse. 

bar of a very simple oblong frame, just wide enough to contain her 
legs, and allow free movement. In the middle, running parallel 
with the long side of the frame, and equidistant from each of the 
short sides, is a treadle, about two feet long, and 6 inches broad, 
like a double pedal of a piano. Through the middle of this treadle 
runs a stick about three feet high, and as the woman plays with 
each foot, or rather each shod stump, upon the two sides of the 
treadle one after the other, of course the stick wags from side to 
side. To the top of the stick is affixed another stick about half as 
long as the frame, and running parallel with its long side. At the 
other end of this last-named stick is fastened the outer end of a 
zigzag piece of wood, or an iron crank, the inner end of which fits 
into a wooden roller about the size of a large bread roller. This 
roller is the axle-tree of a six-spoked wheel about two and a half 
feet in diameter. There is a double row of spokes, that is, six 
running out of each end of the axle, and each spoke is connected 
with the one opposite to it by a stick, these six sticks forming, so 
to speak, the felloe or tire of the wheel. So far, we see that the 
wheel is turned when the woman presses the treadle. At the 
woman's right hand (the wheel being at her left) is a small stove 
keeping almost on the boil a gallon or two of water, in an ordinary 
iron oooking-pan, two feet in diameter. The frame is prolonged 
BO that one short side ends in a bar running over the middle of the 
pan, and on this bar is set another frame, (like a Bahl saw], having 
as its middle part a small roller, (usually divided off into two or 
three separated portions), of bamboo slips. In the lower part of 
the small frame, on the woman's side, are fixed two or three hooks, 
or two or three copper cash with suitable holes, (accordingly as the 
rollers and wheel carry off two or three skeins), and through these 
hooks or holes the woman inserts five cocoon threads selected from 
a bundle of several dozen which she holds in her other hand or 
keeps hanging to a counterbalancing chopstick. The thread of five 
Btrands thuef brought through the hook or cash is then made fast 
to the small roller, which is a few inches to the woman's left of the 
hook or cash, and a few inches above. It is then brought over the 
roller and back on to the circumference of the large wheel, whioh, 
when revolved, of course turns the small rollers very rapidly, but, 
owing to their small size, with very little jerk upon the coooonsy 



A Journey in Xorth Sz CJcivan. 70 

and the silk is wound on to the cirouraferenoe of six felloe-spokes 
of the wheel. Every second or so one or more, or even all, of the 
strands forming the skein thread breaks, but the woman with 
great and almost invisible dexterity joins others on to those 
remaining attached which are themselves almost invisible. This 
joining is effected under the hook or cash, and therefore requires 
no pause to pass it through the hole, unless all five break together, 
when she must pass a new thread up the hole. The cocoons which 
are attached fliat promiscuously about with the others, or bob 
about, like fishes catching the rain, just under the hooks. The 
skeins are about three or four inches broad, and the same distance 
from each other. The way in which the silk is distributed over 
this breadth instead of becotninf^ all ravelled in a narrow rope is 
ingenious in the extreme, and I will endeavour to describe it. At 
the other (thxt is not the crank) end of the axle is a prolongation 
about four inches beyond the spokes. This prolongation is a mere 
shade thicker than the rest of the axle, and is, moreover, 
roughened. Over this runs a wooden wheel or block about six 
inches in diameter, and three inches in tire thickness, the axis of 
which is at right angles to the axle of the ^reat wheel. The 
roughness of the axle-prolongation causes this block wheel both to 
revolve and to bob slowly and gently, the first in a horizontal and 
the second in a perpendicular direction, and is, in fact, a rough 
application of the slanting cog principle. The axis of the block 
wheel in the sliape of a stick runs up and supports a crutch-like 
top which is often carved in the fanciful form of a canary. The 
canary thus goes whizzing round, and both over and to either his 
head or tail is fastened b^ a nail a lath, the other end of which 
runs to and fro over a small bar running parallel to the long side 
of the large frame. The bird is really nothing more than a small 
orank. At intervals of four inches apart in the lath, are affixed 
tiny crutches about four inches high, having tops or hooks not 
more than an inch across. Through these tops the thread is made 
to run before it is attached to the large wheel ; and as the tops 
move two or three inches from side to side in a direction across the 
felloe of the wheel, and parallel with its axle, of course the thread 
never remains in a straight line but is wound slightly diagooallj. 
The whole machine, stove, pan, woman, and all, could easily be 



80 Up the Yang'tse. 

carried by a strong man, the woman at one end of a pole and the 
miscellanies at the other. One quart (Mng) of cocoons produces 
about a local ounce and a quarter, (1^ oz. ordinary), of silk, and 
costs about 240 cash. Thus about 60 cash profit on each ounce 
comes of the labour, and a woman can wind off 6 or 7 ounces a day. 
The value of the woman is probably below that of her clothes, 
(women being cheap in Sz Ch*uan, and, I was told at Sni-ning, 
largely exported into Shen 8i) ; but, anyhow, her labour is not 
worth more than 20 or 3D cash a day, whilst, as a matter of fact, 
the work being usually family work, no wnges need as a rule be 
counted in at all. The only expense is a very trilling quantity of 
coal, and the cost of the machine, stove, and pan; all of which, 
except the last, are probably home-made. Thus 250 cash a day, 
one shilling, a very handsome income for a rustic family, may bo 
earned by one woman during the short silk season. The water is 
not changed during the day, and but one pan is used, — of course 
in the cases under notice only. 

T*ung-ch*unn Fu is a poor but (for China) not dilapidated 
town, perhaps four miles in circumference, with public buildings 
dicidedly above the average. We left it by the east gate, and 
once more crossed by the ferry to the left bank of the (here called) 
* Great* lliver, which is navigable up to Mien Chou (180 /i) and 
Lung-an Fu. We made sixty H in a winding but generally north- 
easterly direction as far as Ch*iu-lin Yih, mounting gradually first 
20 /i to Kan-tien-tsz, (like its Ch*ung-k'ing namesake, 1,300 feet 
above the sea) ; then passing An-loh Ch*ang, 18 /t, and after a 
descent, following up the left bank of a small stream which 
joins the * Great* River (i.e. the Kia-ling, or Little River) opposite 
Yang-chia Pa. I did not notice this embouchure yesterday. 
Here I may mention that the water of the T*ung-ch'uan or 
Hob Chou River is (at least at this time of the year) what the 
Chinese call * black.' Even where it runs through the red sand- 
stone country lower down, it does not appear to mix freely with 
the sand, like thut of the Yungtbze, but looks a grayish yellow, 
and curdles in a streaky way. In the winter I found it as 
pure as crystal between Hoh Chou and Ch*ung-k*ing. The 
country is now more barren than ever, and sadly lacks water; 
the hills are deprived of their trees in most cases, except that a 



.4 Journey in Jforth Sz CJiuan. 81 

few cedar-wood forests are left here and there. Rice, near the 
streams ; a little cotton and sorghum ; taros and beans : these were 
about the only Tegetables; loquats, peaches, jujubes, and waU 
Dttts the occasional fruit trees. The people looked no poorer than 
around Ch'ung-k4ng, whilst their houses, chiefly of mud and 
thatch, as at Peking, were decidedly an improTement on slimy 
wood and leaky tiles. The people were respectful, not to say 
polite, and only evinced curiosity when in crowds. We met a 
good deal of salt, both shui hwa and ktco^pa, being carried from 
Nao-fung Sz and T'ien-pien Sz, and other places about 15 to 30 U 
off our road to the left. It appears that the T*ung-ch*uan city, 
and Lo-kiang, Td-yang, and Tsz-t'ung Districts, are supplied by 
these Weill with granular salt, whilst Chung-kiang Hien takes 
pan-salt. It is not allowed in ShS-hung. From the account given 
to me by an old wayfarer, the production is ' over a myriad a day,' 
which would make Tls. 4,000,000 a year. He added, however, 
that the production was not equal to that of T'ai-ho Ch^o, which, 
as we have seen, produces about 10,000 tons. Supposing that he 
meant over a myriad catties, say 10 tons a day, that would give 
at the utmost 4,000 tons a year, a much more likely figure. The 
selling price on the road (of the granular sort) was 20 cash a catty, 
(? of how many ounces). It was said by the old man to go in 
very large quantities to Han-chuDg Fu in Shen Si, and to have 
displaced thence the more expensive chao yen (the Hwai or Tang- 
chow salt) since the time of ' the wars.'* 

Between An-lo Ch'ang and Ch*iu-lin, we passed on our left a 
picturesque hill called Sd-chiang Shan. I also met a man carry- 
ing three birds which he called sha-ho-shang, and which had the 
appearance of a cross between a thrush and a gosling, with cobalt- 
blue wings. The shape and size were of the thrush, the down and 
and colour of the gosling, and the wings that of the kingfisher. 
I had serious thoughts of buying them, — they were only a few 
hundred cash each ; — but botanical cares take up so much time, 
that in this case I decided to let ornithological science go by. By 
the way, near Yang-tau Ch4 we met some rough and honest-look- 
fellowB from Hoh Chou in Kan Suh, carrying down some fox skins 

* Probably referring to Uie Shih Ta k'ai (T'ai piug) rebelUou. 



8£ Up the Yang'tse. 

for sale. A little to the north-east of T'ung-ch'aan, we also en- 
oouotered some hunters oarrjiog leopard skins and bones, (the 
latter for medicine), from the hills in the Ewang-yUan District. 
And, by the way, also about here, we saw some dull black- 
coloured birds like blackbirds, which the people called niu shih 
pa : and this also brings to my recollection that a number of 
apparently tame white egrets occupied groves near some of the 
Tillages. 

Our next day's journey was through a poor, tame, and un- 
interesting country, of the common hill and dale type, past 
Hwangling Ya, 15 /i; Kai-p<ai, 38 /» ; Yen-t*ing Hien, 60 /i, to a 
tiny mountain Tillage called Lin-shan P^u, (1,100 feet), 90 li\ all 
counting from Gh4u-lin. The boundary between the San-t'ai and 
Yen-t4Dg districts is a mile or two west of Kai-p*ai. We kept for 
some distance along the left bank of a small mountain stream 
which joins, a mile aboye Yen-t4ng, a river running from Tsz- 
t^ung Hien, and is navigable for small coal-barges up to a market 
town called An-chia Chiang, 80 U from Yen-t'ing. Just below Yen- 
t^ng, another small mountain stream, passing the city, joins this 
river, which then runs south-west into the Shd-hung river opposite 
T*ai-ho ChSn. After leaving Yen-t4ng, we followed first the 
right and then the left bank of the said stream, which is at this 
time but a ditch, but which, judging from its deep and sandy 
banks, is evidently at times a torrent. Yen-t4ng Hien is almost 
the poorest district in Sz-ch'uan, and only pays Tls. 3,000 land- 
tax, against Tls. 60,000 for San-t*ai. It has thirteen licentiates, 
against twenty for the former. The city is very tiny, the west 
end not being more than fifty yards across ; it seemed as if we 
were entering a toy city. Perhaps it is a small half-mile long, 
but its area is largely taken up with mulberry-trees. My sudden 
descent upon this Liliputian city created a great sensation, and I 
was closely beset at windows, doors, ceilings, etc., by a curious but 

• 

not in the least oflfensive crowd. From the earnest and eager way 
in which they scanned my face, it was evident that they had seen 
no sort of a foreigner before. The approach to the city is very 
beautiful, what with the smooth and graceful valley with its mul- 
berry groves, and young crops ; its mosque-like and other pagodas 
occupying striking sites on very picturesque hills; and its nobU 



A Journey in J^orth Sz Cliiian, 83 

six-arohed bridge over the ditch which barely fills one arch. One 
end of the bridge runs into a ploughed field, which is dug out of a 
mountain side, and the other connects with a small by-path lead- 
ing nowhere in particular. Possibly, when the freshets arise, the 
bridge is utilised. It is the first of its kind I have seen in China. 
It is flat, except that the middle part, two thirds of the whole, is 
raised three feet above the sides, and approached thence by hand- 
tome steps; this gives the bridge a most elegantly diversified look. 
It is all of stone, and must have cost at least Tls. 20,000. Yen- 
t*ing produces a superior opium of a more tasty description thaa 
the Ch*ung-k4ng kinds ; the quantity is not large, but sufficient to 
form a small export ; this year the crop was too dry. Silk is, how- 
ever, the great staple, and plenty of it we saw in every stage. A 
man with cocoons said that they were worth 270 cash a quart 
{sheng)y and that he could get 1^ ounces (local ounce) — say 360 
cash worth — of silk from each sheng. Nearly all the silk 
from North Sz-ch*uan goes to Ch*ung-k*ing by land route, 
in order to avoid the Ukin at Hob Chou. The silk-winding 
machines are not all of the same construction. One I saw to-day 
had four skeins and four rollers instead of three ; the crank which 
turned the wheel had hanging to it a fork, like a clothes-peg, one 
end of which was attached by a cord to a split bamboo pole, which 
a man standing on one leg at the side of the frame kept pushing 
back with the other foot. The other end of the bamboo pole work- 
ed freely up and down another split bamboo stick, extending out 
slantingly from the frame to the ground. Instead of the ' canary ' 
worked by a cog, a wooden barrel of open bars like a white-mouse 
wheel set on end was turned by a rough bit of endless rope which 
ran round the end of the axle of the wheel. The ingenuity and 
rough simplicity of the machine makes one smile, but I do not 
remember even in English machinery to have seen an endless strap 
used in this ingenious way with one end working horizontally and 
the other perpendicularly. 

Yen-t'ing produces a considerable quantity of salt, which goes 
to Kiang-yu Uien and Lung-an Fu. An old man who seemed to 
know all about it said the wells were contiguous to those of San- 
t'ai, but that the latter place produced more salt in any one of its 
half-dozen well districts than Yen-tMng did altogether; so that we 



84 Up the Fang'tse. 

may assume that 1,000 tons a year are produced in Yen-t*ing. He 
■aid the wells of San-t^ai brought up white brine, which yielded 
fifty per cent, of salt ; that mules from Mien Chou were used in 
pairs to haul up the buckets by means of a horizontal wheel ; and 
that the wells would yield all day long, and needed no * prod- 
ding' or 'jabbing.' The /iA;i;i was one cash a catty both in San- 
t'ai and Ten-t*ing, and ten or twenty strings were taken a day; — 
information which accords with what has been said before. Grass 
was the only fuel, and some of the boilers has as many as twenty 
pans. The salt from San-t'ai went to the capital and to Han 
Chou, besides Lo-kiang, Chung-kiang, <&o., and the exported salt 
was always pan-salt, the granular being consumed in T'ung- 
ch'uan alone. Each porter carrying salt was provided with a Ukin 
receipt which enabled him to trade without further exaction in 
any place where San-t'ai salt was allowed to circulate. 

The rustics along this road, in addition to the ordinary lung^ 
kU'cJiif or endless wheel, used a very effective irrigating machine 
in the shape of a mat shovel-like bucket swung by two cords, each 
held by one of two persons standing at a distance of twelve feet 
apart. One (the shorter) cord passed through the top side of the 
bottom of the bucket, and the other through and across the mouth. 
This bucket, being dropped shovel- wise down into the water, is deftly 
brought up and turned, discharging each time about half a gallon in 
half a second. A man and his wife usually worked the affair, and, 
by way of preventing the bank from giving way with the wet, adopt- 
ed the characteristically Chinese device of taking off their coats, 
and laying them on the top, — of course with no further damage 
than a washing. The hard-working peasant women, though not 
at all inviting, are an improvement on their slatternly and dishe- 
velled sisters of the town. I have often spoken to Chioamen of all 
ranks about squeezing the feet, and I think there can be no doubt 
that, apart from all fanciful stories, the sound practical reason of 
the tenacity of custom is that it keeps women from gadding about. 
The idea is the same as the Japanese one of blackening the teeth 
and pulling out the eyebrows as soon as a woman exchanges the 
irregular life of the tea-house for the more prosy one of marriage ; 
the only difference is that the Chinese woman never has her youth- 
ful 'fling ^ indeed, her youth is the time of the greatest pain, 



A Journey in J^orth Sz Cliuan, 85 

before the bones and nerves of the feet have got properly smashed 
up and deprived of sensibility. 

The water of the mountain streams is most carefully husband- 
ed ; in one place I saw a very handsome and ingenious mole or 
dyke of solid granite, around and behind which the river could be 
conducted down a flight of steps to different levels. Rice and 
tares, (wherever there was water), sorghum, cotton, beans, cucum- 
bers, &o., were the vegetables for the day ; cedars, mulberries, 
Vuny-tn, htcang lietif (I thiuk a sort of willow), walnuts, &o., the 
chief trees. 

T*ai.ho Chen is 120, and Tsz-t'ung flien 180 U by land from 
the city of Yen-t*ing. As we approached Yen-t*ing from Ch*iu- 
lin, we passed several roads on our right, all running to She-hung. 
Just after leaving Yen-t'ing, the road divides into two, ours con- 
tinuing north-east, and the other branch running north over a steep 
hill to Tsz-t'ung. 

The place in Yen-t*ing (I should mention) which produces the 
salt is called Liaif^-ho K'ou. 

I inquired for Man-tsz Tung as we approached Yen-t*ing, and 
was informed that there were none in the neighbourhood ; but, 
instinct has now taught me where to expect these ; and, on looking 
up, sure enough, there were two in the rock just above the junc- 
tion of the streams. I have omitted to mention that we saw 
numerous fine specimens both before and after reaching Sui-ning, 
but they were too much like those 1 had already seen to make it 
worth while clambering up. 

I heard a good deal of Mahometans from Sui-ning northwards ; 
in fact, the military official of that city was himself a Moslem. 
An agreeable consequence of their presence in the district was that 
I was able to get some mutton to eut. 

It is noteworthy that tobacco and hemp almost disappeared 
from the scene from the moment we left Sui-ning territory. In 
fact, we met many coolies travelling to Wdn-kiang district, in 
order to purchase loads of the hwo ma hemp, which is said to be 
the chief production of that place. 

An article of commerce in the silk districts is old cocoons, 
or chten pa-tsz^ worth eighty cash the catty; or »z t*ou, the 
same cut up and prepared, which are sold for twenty cash the 



86 Up the Yan^-tse. 

ounce, and are used for making cords, and stuffing pillows, cu- 
shions, &c. 

The next day^s journey was through the same uninteresting 
country, without any change in the cultivation. Birds, however, 
were^ unusually numerous, some of the most heautiful heing dif- 
ferent kinds oilsan tsa or shan cha, certain of which almost resem- 
bled humming birds, and others small pheasants. Seen from the 
back, these latter were extremely broad, with white spots upon a 
brown ground ; but, seen from the side, they looked as small as a 
swallow. Magpies, (some brown), crows, doves, pigeons, ravens, 
and egrets were very common ; and one top-heavy bird with mauve 
wings upon a drab ground, with a large head and broad chest, 
moderately long bill, short legs, black eyes, and slow fly, left upon 
me the impression of a cross between a kingfisher and a sea-gull. 
The Chinese called it a ch^ing chwang ; but it was certainly not the 
same sort of bird that we had seen near Ta-ho Pa, also called by 
that name. 

We crossed the boundary of Nan-pu Hien a f#w li beyond Lin- 
shan P*u, passing Pi-shan Miao, 18 li\ Fu-ts*un Yih, 12 /i, this 
latter a •sub-division {fen sz) of Nan-pu; Hwa P'ai-lou, 8 //; 
Ch*in-fu Sz, 20 li\ to Liu-tien Yih, (1,180 feet), 32 /*; 90 /i in all. 
The two last-named places are tiny market towns, the former as 
bustling during a fair as the latter was deserted in the absence of 
one. These Sz Ch'uan fairs remind one very strongly of the same 
gatherings in the out-of-the-way villages and towns in county 
Donegal. Here was the matron sitting astride of her bat-mule, 
(but of course without her husband in front of her, — a combination 
very scandalous to the Chinese mind — ), encumbered with her band- 
boxes, wares, and day's provisions ; pigs in pokes, baskets, attached 
to strings, or slung by the feet to a pole; a brace of pigeons, 
tails downwards, neatly jacketted and suspended at one end of a 
stick, and a long-legged Cochin-China fowl uncomfortably slung to 
the other. Silk, paper, tobacco, native cotton cloth, and yarn ; oil, 
rough iron, and bamboo wares, all being bandied about with inter- 
minable squabbling and noise. Here, for the tirst time on this 
northern road, back-loads began to replace the usual carrying-pole ; 

• A sub-district {fen hien) is under a hien ch'eng ; fen sz is under a 
«//n kien. 



A Journey in Js'^orth Sz CJtuan. 87 

and horses, mules, (from Mien Chou), and saddled oxen bore loads 
of heavy produce in company with their masters. Poor and unpol- 
ished though the villages are, they are frequently adorned with a 
gaily- coloured but tawdry pagoda or temple ; a play-house, or a 
roofed bridge. The dirt is of a drier and less pungent description 
than that of the south, and the country assumes a parched and 
dusty look in some places, which recalls travelling in the neigh- 
bourhood of Peking. The vermin were terribly numerous at Lin- 
shan P'u, and I was awakened several times by the impatient 
groans of my rntniners, who had to strugjjle not only with mos- 
quitoes, but with various paraMites. I complacently reflected that, 
as a Chinese general, — a quondam Imperial Commissioner, — had 
recently explained to me, I was one of those lucky ones who * did 
not fear the bite,' a fact which presented itself to me the more 
forcibly in that I was ensconced within mosquito-curtains. Never- 
theless, I felt remarkably lively about the skin. The gallant gen- 
eral put me up to a * wrinkle* which he, as a similarly onstitutod 
fortunate one, had discovered when called f»r audience to Peking, 
the city par excel'euce of Norfolk- Howards. * You have no occa- 
feion to get excited aud rise from your couch : these creatures 
always make for the shoulder, and when a dozen or so have col- 
lected there, just give your bare shoulder a sharp turn on the 
banibio pillow, when they will be crushed to death and ren<lcred 
perfectly harmlcsH.* At the moment I retlvct upon the juiicious- 
nets of his Excellency's remarks, I witness tive kindly loiterers in 
the inn-compound engaged in rapidly picking ofT the Norfolks from 
my mo:>quito-curtains, previous to hanging them up for another 
nigl)t*s adventure. According to the coolie captain, they cannot 
walk upon blankets or woollen rugs, but it is evident that they 
can comfortably sleep there*, for now 1 see my blankets being sub- 
jected to the same operation. 

Near Liu-tien Vih 1 noticed some bare-legged women working 
in the paddy-tields. My men said they were of Cantonese extrac- 
tion, but they seemed to have no other reason to give for this 
opinion than the fact that their feet were not squeezed. They 
said they had observed the same thing in Lung-ch'ang and Jung- 

* Heucv the «tt\it)g, * as >iia? as a NorfoId-IIowiird in • ru<*?* 



\ 



88 Up the Yan^-tse. 

ch'ang, (where, indeed, I have heard there are some old Cantonese 
immigrants), but I did not happen to come across any of them. 

The regular land-taxation of Nan-pu is not heavy ; but, what 
with extras, &o., it comes to Tls. 5,000 and over a year. A land- 
owner told me that each mace of silver counted as three quarts of 
rice, and each quart of rice as 215 cash ; so that the peasant would 
really pay four times the nominal amount. Nothing could be more 
complicated than the land-tax of Sz-Chuan, which, nominally 
about the lightest, is, in reality, amongst the heaviest in the 
Empire. The Prefecture of Pao-ning Fu, t.e. Lang-chung Hien, 
Kwang-an Chou, &c., is chiefly supplied with salt from those wells 
of Nan-pu which are situated on the left bank of the Pao-ning river. 
I met a man who owned one. He said the brine was white, and 
of IJ ounce saltness to the catty ; — say eight per cent. The wells 
were, as at Tsz-liu Ching, (down to a certain depth), and She- 
hung, lined with cedar or cypress-tubes to keep out the 'male' 
water. According to his account, these tubes are constructed with 
great care, and enveloped in canvas, tied with bamboo and hemp, 
and strengthened with Vung oil. The joints are made by prolong- 
ing one side of a tube and splicing it to the corresponding short 
side of that above or below. Sometimes a tube will have to be 
fished up and repaired after a year or two's use ; at others it will 
last fur forty years. The fuel used is chiefly grass ; coal from 
Ts*ang-k'i (brought down the small river to Pao-ning) being very 
expensive. At Liu-tien the price of coal was seventeen and eigh- 
teen cash the catty, or X4 the ton ; but of course it was only used 
for smith-work and other exceptional purposes. Opium of a good 
quality is grown in the district, but not enough for local consump- 
tion ; nor will the paddy-lands support a crop of opium during the 
winter. Here, and in Yen-t4ng, the distinction between Vien^ 
(wet-land), and Vu^ (slopes), has to be rigidly kept. Though 
ootton is grown in the district, Shanghai cotton still finds its way 
up here, and, in spite of the heavy freight, competes successfully 
with the local article. 

The landlord at Liu-tien being an intelligent man, I took the 
opportunity of cross- questioning him on various subjects. It 
appears that, though go-betweens are in vogue in match-making, 
these arc not female professionals, but relatives of one of the two 



A Journey in Jiorth Sz Ch'uan. 89 

• 

UmUies, ftad that the girl's family asually proposes. Her pat&^ 
is left to the liberality of her family, the only things which are a 
Mine f ttd non of her troatseau being one large and two small tables, 
four benches, and a few humble wooden utensils. Three days 
after marriage, the pair spend three days with the girl's parents. 
The latter make no profit by a marriage, nor does the husband 
purchase bis wife in any shape or form ; her marriage being, on 
the contrary, usually a heavy expense to her parents. Guests 
invited to wedding and funeral feasts must bring a sum of money 
fixed by local custom, according to intimacy or propinquity. This 
sum is smaller in the country than in the town, where the host 
usually profits by the transaction. In my informant's yillagey 
the lowest sum for an ordinary friend is 120 cash ; at Nan-pu city 
400 cash. As to adoption. An elder or younger brother adopts 
one of the sons of a younger or elder brother, if the former is 
childleas; and, in the event of there being only one son, the 
custom of $hwang Viao^ or one husband having two wives, one to 
represent and bring forth for his father, and one to do the same 
for his uncle, exists under the homely appellation of ' borrowing 
a cock for eggs ' {chieh chi-kutig chien tan). 

From Liu-pien, (or Liu-tien, I am not sure which), onwards 
in the same north-easterly direction, the country grows more 
mountainous, and, at the same time, opens out into broader ex- 
paoses. I should be disposed to think that the country from 
T'uog-ch*uan to Pao-ning was a gradual slope or slightly inclined 
plateau, still retaining, however, the cut-up and channelled ap- 
pearance so characteristic of Si Ch*uan ; but a whitish gray hat 
DOW taken the place of red soil, and the country wears a mor« 
wintry garb. At 8h4-hung I was told that several inches of 
snow had covered the ground on one occasion this last winter, and 
that this was no unusual phenomenon. After crossing one ridgOi 
we passed a busy fair at the little town of Ta Ch*iao, (26 (i), to 
which the country people were flocking, like bees, from every 
direction, some carrying grain and homespun, or leading pigs for 
sale, others just returning with a bit of fat pork hanging by a 
straw to the little finger. The pole had now quito disappeared, 
and even the grain crop was computed by the /isi, or baok-load. 
The custom here is for the landlord to receive about one third of 



90 Up the Yaii^-tse. 

the ftatumn grain crop, and no ya Hen, or lessee's deposit, is left 
with him, as around Ch*ung-k*ing. In bad years the reduction of 
rent is a matter of arrangement jind liberality, governed by the 
ohanoes of the tenant's leaving, if too hardly pressed : there is no 
established custom. The Magistrate of Nan-pu must be an ener- 
getic man, for in every village and hamlet we passed, and, in 
fact, on almost every portal or house, there were affixed numerous 
proclamations exhorting the people to virtue and industry, and 
explaining to them in easy rhyme how the mulberry and the 
cotton plant should be cultivated. The next village is Shih-tsz 
Ch'ang, 12 /t, shortly after passing which we crossed a brook 
which evidently runs into the Pao-ning river somewhere below the 
prefectural city. This stream seemed to be full of fish, and both 
men and women were wading about with cast-nets in their hands. 
The large-footed women in the fields were no better looking than 
their sisters of the stumps, but I noticed that they were generally 
singing or exchanging banter with each other or the passers-by in 
a cheery way unknown to the miserable creatures who totter about 
in, or rather on, ' golden lilies.' I think I even saw one girl who 
was sitting astride of a cow engaged in the occupation of flirting. 
Her back was turned towards me, but a young fellow was standing 
opposite to her and looking smilingly into her eyes ; when he saw 
me, he dropped his smile and looked as solemn as a sexton, as 
though caught in a shameful act, little thinking that all my 
sympathies were with human nature, and not with the rites and 
ceremonies of unbending Confucius. 

At the ridge of Siao-Ho Ya, (1,100 ft.), we passed the eastern 
boundary of Nan-pu, and entered the District of Lang-chung. 
Here a fine new temple had just been built by a local family of 
substance, and here the village boys were shrieking out their 
lessons at the top of their voices. Education seems widely difi'used 
in Eastern and Northern Sz Ch'uan, but does not appear to go 
much beyond the three R^s, or their Chinese equivalent. Most 
people seem rather ashamed of the fact, or bashful to shew that 
they have any learning, and it is exceptional to find a man who 
can (or will) tell you the written name of an official or a place. 
Yet crowds stand round the proclamations, spelling out their 
meaning, whilst the reception of a letter by a rustic Ajax is quite 



A Journey in Xorth Sz Cliiuin, 91 

%XL e?eDt, ftod oolleoU quite a crowd of curious dunces, who puzzle 
out a character each here and there over the recipient's should er, 
until some Thersites condescends to interpret it in a lump. < An 
old lady's ears are supererogatory appendages ' (lau Vai-Vai irh'to 
ku $hi)f remarked my fidm AchaUi, (a sort of Chinese Sam 
Weller), meaning ' Luxury and learning are out of place in com- 
mon people.' This gentleman hardly ever delivers himself of a 
sentiment without coupling it with some terse and homely proverh. 
'It is in cutting the jungle that you iind out the wolf (Ar'an lo 
haU'Uz hsuan ch*u Uing)y he triumphantly remarked when I 
allowed some other person to buy me a skeip of silk, and of course 
was cheated of a few cash. 

We put up for the day at Wan-nien Ya, where we found a 
Tery tolerable and delightfully dark inn, having only accomplished 
sixty U. It was now scorching hot, though we had been singular- 
ly fortunate in having cool and sunless weather fur a week past. 
The landlord of this place had one of the richest and most re- 
markably deep bass voices I ever heard, — quite astonishing in a 
Chinaman, whose utterances come seldum from the chest. The 
inn, however, it turned out, had one most serious defect : the 
mosquitoes were so numerous and pertinacious that not one of my 
bearers and servants got a wink of sleep, notwithstanding that 
they had carefully smoked the enemy out with straw before go- 
ing to bed. I was more fortunate, inasmuch as I both smoked my 
room and had good curtains, whilst they each of them sweltered 
in a filthy appendage which looked mure like an old sugar sack 
than anything else. Unfortunately, all our mosquito ' ropes ' had 
run out, and, after four hours' refreshing sleep, I was awakened 
by groans of agony all around me : the unhappy coolies wer« 
making wild and desperate lunges at space and vainly en- 
deavouring to snatch a moment's slumber. The end of it was, we 
all got up at three o'clock in the morning, and a very silent and 
nnhappy lot we looked as we blundered along in the moonlight. I 
was rather glad to be able to get over the best part of the joomey 
ia the oool of the day, and discreetly kept to myself the fact that I 
had had a good sleep. It was still dark when we crossed the 8i 
Ho at a trifnrcated point called 8i-ho T*ang, where the river, eom- 
iag from Chia-ch'ao (in Naa-pu) and Ta Ch*iao, joins a small 



9g Up the Tang-fse. 

■tream running from a point 30 It in the Pao-ning direction, and 
the whole runs past Lau-wa Ch*i into the Eia-ling Eiang or Pao- 
liing (or Hoh Chou] River. By the way, I may mention that the 
T*ang-oh'uan River is called in the hooks hy the name of Fa 
Kiang. It was harely light when we passed through the sleeping 
tillage of T*ien-kung Tiia 'rh, where the bankrupt inn was in 
official limho. We breakfasted after a climb up a hill, (1,240 ft.), 
called Ch'6n-chia P*o, 20 li from Wan-nien Ta, and there witness- 
ed lome yery amusing scenes between the silk-dealers and the 
rillagers who were bringing in their skeins for sale. The amount 
of chaffering and indignation-acting whieh went on down to the 
last cent of the price, proved that no European merchant could ever 
possibly compete with a class of men who sell silk by the ounce 
and subdivide tenpence, (the cost of the ounce), into 200 fractions. 
The silk is weighed on a sort of steelyard, and I saw one lot of 73 
ounces knocked down for 13,500 cash. The dealer was a crafty, 
ooyetous-looking man with one of his eyes drooping like that of a 
ehameleon, and who (his mouth watering at the prospect of gain) 
•pat freely into the face of everyone whom he addressed. 

As stated by the Delegates of the Shanghai Chamber of Com- 
merce, Kia-ting and Pao-ning are, (together however with Shan- 
king), the most productive silk districts. The Kia-ting sort oomea 
first in quantity, and, the silk being mostly white, takes the dye 
better. The fine silk, however, comes in larger quantities from 
8hun-k*iog and Pao-ning, where the yellow cocoons yield a thicker 
thread. The value of the comhined production of the two latter 
prefectures is estimated by competent native authorities at from 
one million to one million and a half of taels a year, against from 
two to three millions for Kia-ting. The same authority estimates 
the production of Jdn-shou, where the silk is celebrated for its 
superior quality, at Tls. 200,000 a year. As the Delegates observe, 
boweyer, most places in Sz Ch*uan produce silk for local consump- 
tion, and the places named are only centres whence considerable 
export takes place. Little or none is produced in Jung-ch'ang or 
Lung-ch*ang; little, again, in Nan-ch'uan, and only * mountain 
silkMu K*i-kiang. But most places have a little. In the small 
district of Pi-shan, for instance, there is a production of from Tls. 
10,000 to Tls. 20,000 worth of silk in the year. The whole busi- 



A Journey in Jforth Sz CKuan. 93 

BMs it traniaoted in tweDty Buooetsive days at twenty different 
ch^ang or market towns. The export of Sz Ch*uan silk was, until 
within the last two years, carried on almost entirely by land, in 
order to avoid the heavy taxes at K*wei £wan ; but now muoh of 
it goes under transit pass. It is carried either to Hankow, or, by 
way of 8hih-nan, to Sha-shih, whence it travels rid Sui-ting and 
Tong-hsiang, or vid King-men and Fan-ch*eog, to Peking and the 
north generally. A certain quantity also goes to Peking from 
Ch'^ng-ta by the great Shen Si road, travelled by Kiohthofen. 
From Uankow the silk is carried on by steamer to Shanghai, and 
thence to Sooohow, where it is often dyed and sold as Soochow 
fabrio. Dyeing silk used to be done muoh better both at Peking 
and Soochow than in Sz Ch'uan ; but now dyeing is extensively 
carried on with aniline dyes, more especially at Ch6ng-tu. One 
regular customer, a large foreign firm in Shanghai, is said to have 
bought in some years as much as a million taels worth of Sz 
Ch*uan silk. The trade with Caoton, which place formerly took 
600 to 700 boxes a year, has dropped ; but both the hwo-tz and the 
ihui ehang iz, mentioned by the Shanghai Delegates of the Cham- 
ber of Commerce, have resumed their place in the export to Yiin 
Nan, which Provinoe takes also large quantities of silk thread. 
Silk is also exported to Kwei Chou from Ch*ung-k*ing. The season 
oovers the third and fourth moons, and is quite over in the fifth 
and sixth moons. The mulberry tree on the leaves of which the 
insMta usually feed is ready for use the third year after planting. 
Th« leaves are plucked in the third and fourth moons, and the tree 
moat be polled every year. During the first moon the trees have 
to b« carefully examined by practised eyes to see if there are any 
gmba or motha upon the leaves, and these are instantly killed to 
prevent their eating up the tree. In Kia-ting the insects ar« 
frequently fed at first with the leaves of the chi, or silkworm oak, 
which resemble somewhat the leaves of the chrysanthemum. At 
they grow older, the diet is changed to mulberry leaves. This is 
' hard silk/ and none of it is found in Pao-ning or Shun-k*ing. 
The iateott which produce the wild silk of Kwei Chou are fed 
on the young leaves of the Ch^ing Kang^ a species of Quereu$, 
These two trees must therefore be closely allied. In Kwei Choo, 
however, the insects are more often fed upon the tree than in the 



04- Up the Tang'tse, 

home, and the silk also is reeled off the inseeta aa thej are aettled 
OD the tree. The fabric made from the wild silk, or sAmi-as, ia 
also called ke-ta ch^ou^ from the lumps and nodulea which are 
found in ita coarse texture. 

The newly-hatched grubs must be fed dailj with clipped 
leaves, and the leaves must be changed three times a-daj. There 
must be no lime or dirt upon them, and thej should be carefully 
wiped with a damp kerchief. Everything near the inseeta must 
be kept scrupulously clean. After ten days, they have grown to 
the size of a caterpillar, and developed their eight lega. When 
mulberry leaves have not been used from the beginning, this ia the 
time for substituting them for the leaves of the silkworm oak. 
After a month, again, the insects begin to make nests on the stalka, 
(ihany chia), form an egg around themselves, and begin to disgorge 
•ilk. As soon as they cease to move, they are removed from the 
branch. 

A certain number of insects are allowed to live in order to pro- 
duce eggs for the succeeding year. The grub oomea oat of the 
oocoon in the fourth moon, and lays its eggs upon sheets of paper 
provided for that purpose. These sheets are oareiuUy placed in 
boxes, and hung up in a dry place in the house until the first 
month of the ensuing year. On the arrival of the solar term ching 
ehihf or ' movement of larvae,' about March the 5th, the sheets of 
eggs are taken out of the boxes, and carried about in the hat or 
bosom, or placed among the bed-clothes in order to be hatched. 
Sometimes they are placed, instead, in a sort of large basket or sieve 
(lo-iou, or ihai'tsz) which is kept in a warm place. 

In washing the silk, or wetting it in order to wind it from the 
cocoons, the Chinese do not put potash and the caul of pips into 
the water, as has been supposed by some. These ingredients are, 
however, used to make silk glossy in the weaving. The term Kwo- 
p*in is used to indicate silk which has undergone more than one 
washing, or in the washing of which more than one pan or baain ia 
used. All silk must pass through at least one basin of water, ao 
that the definition given by the Delegates of ' Kopun^ so-called 
from its passing through the basin in reeling ' is hardly oorreet. 
As the 6z Ch*uan washers are paid according to the number of 
oocooDS they can get throngh,-*the rate being 80 oath the Um 



A Journey in Jiorth Sz Ch!uan, 95 

Vf peek^no pains whatever are taken to keep the thread at 
A aniform thickness. Instead of takings up the ends of five 
ooocK>ns, as is done by women in Sonohow, the workmen fre- 
qaently grasp as many as thirty. The water in which the cocoons 
ar* placed must be very hot, otherwise the insect chanties into 
A moth. In the autumn of 1B81 the Ch'uni^-k'inf? prices for silk 
were quoted as follows per ounce : — 1. — J^n-shou and Mien-chou, 
one mace nine oandareens. 2. — Pao-ning and Shun-k'in^, one 
maoe three can'lareens for ^'iVio-^«z ; one mice seven for (selected) 
A^t pa: and one mace eight for Kwo-p^en. The price of the 
harder silk from Eia-ting, which, however, does not come to 
Ch*ang-k*ing for export, was one mace six candareens. At 
Ch*ung-K*ing there is a silk hang or licensed exchange employ- 
ing four families. 

During the year 1880 silk was remarkably cheap, prices being 
aa low as one maoe one oandareen the ounce. It has been as high 
aa two, and even three mace within the laot few years. About six 
years ago, for instance, it is said that a lar^^e French demand sent 
up prices to two mace five or six candareens. One hundred and 
sixty ounces of silk make a pa (book), and ten or more pa make 
a tan or peoul ; but local custom varies. 

A large number of khatm or yellow silk scarves (p*a) are also 
•ent annually from Ch*6ng-tu to Tibet, where they are used 
amongst the Unna» [hun/o) fur ceremonious purposes. Pao-ning 
also sends khalaSf vid Kan Suh, into Tibet. 

Coal was being conveyed on coolie-back from Pao-ning to 
Fu-ts'on Yih, where it was required for blacksmiths' work. The 
east at P<io-ning was 400 cash, and at Fu-ts*un, say 80 miles off, 
l,7i>O-l,8O0 cash the 100 catties. The iron and tobacco consumed 
in Pao-ning come chiefly from Han-ohung Fu, in Shen Si ; but we 
also overtook porters carrying loads of tobioco from Mien Chou. 

I was delighted to get hold of a good specimen with fruit of a 
very fine-grown small-leafed tree called the hxcamj lien^ (not to be 
confused with the drug hwang lien)^ which I hope to have identi- 
fied. The cedars on this ruad have sometimes been allowed to 
grow to a great height and thickness ; but the htvtng-kwo shu tc«>t 
poorer with the country. We heard a great many real cuckoos 
about here; the local name is pao-ku chuoh or * maize bird.' 



90 Up the Yani'tse, 

EveiythiDf^ else in the way of nature was mneh the same, axeeft 
that the conntrj grew more mountainous, and the sandstone Mora 
decidedly white. 

The only other place deserving the name of village on this aide 
of Pao-ning was Ta-fung P'u, \b U from the city. Pao-ning 
presents very little view as yon approach it from the west. The 
Ch'dng-tu highway comes to an end with a flight of steps on the 
right bank of the river, whence we crossed hy ferry boats to the 
suburb. The place, which has a reputation for great poverty, 
looked to roe remarkably clean and prosperous, and in the high 
street through which we passed there were various foreign and 
CantTin goods exposed for sale. Apart from its silk trade, Pao- 
ning is famous for its superior vinegar, many jars of which we met 
on the road, going to T'ung-chuan. It is, I understand, made of 
wheat fermented with rice-harm. There are a good many Ma- 
hometans in the city, and there is also a considerable quantity oi 
8hen Si opium consumed there. It is hard ; harder even than the 
Kwei Ohou drug, and is sold in bricks of 100 ounces apiece. The 
price was quoted to me at Tls. 15-16 the brick. It is said to be 
better than any Sz Ch'uan opium, but not to equal in flavour that 
of Yiin Nan. The coal consumed in Pao-aing and Nan-pu eomes 
from Kwang-yiiau Hien, up to which place the river is navigable 
for ordinary-sized cargo-boats, and above that for small lighters. 
Indeed, either the main river or one of its branches is navigable far 
into the Bhon Si Proyince, notably up to Lo-yang Hien and Ning- 
kiang Chou. Iron, water-pipe tobacco, wine, sheepskins, felt hats, 
and coal are the chief products brought down ; occasionally, also, 
cotton and foreign piece-goods are imported by way of the Han 
llivor. There was not much shipping lying off Pao-ning, nor did 
the interior of the city give one the idea of being much addicted 
to bufiini-ss. The Yamint are exceptionally fine, that occupied by 
the Hrigudior-General having been the palace of a $hwai or gene- 
ralissimo under the Ming Dynasty. According to trustworthy 
statements, Chang Hien-tsung, although he ravaged the country, 
never destroyed the city itself. Pao-ning is the official seat of the 
Taotai or Intendant of North Sz Ch'uan, who has jurisdiction over 
the three Prefectures of Pao-ning, Tung-ch'uan, and 8hun-k4ng. 
It is also the seat of the Brigadier-General of the northern 



A Journey in Xorth Sz CJiiiart, 97 

marches, whose military jarisdiction is nearly, but not quite, oon^ 
termiooas with the civil. The Prefect of Pao-ning has jurisdio- 
tion over the Districts of Lang-chunf^, Nan-pu, Ts'ang-k*!, Ewang- 
y^%D, Chao-hua, T*un^-kiang, and Nan-kiang, and over the De- 
partments of Pa Chou and Kien Chou. 

Leaving Pao-ning by the same ferry by which we arrived, we 
followed the shore of the right bank down to a point about a mile 
below the city where the river bends to the north. The river 
opposite Pao-ning runs east and west, and bends north on both 
•ides, so that the city is built on a sort of low uvula formed by 
the tortuosities of the btream. We now cut across a fertile plain 
called Oh'i-li Pa, or ' Seven U Flat,' which abounds in tobacco, 
(i.e. not the water-pipe sort), cotton, beans, rice, sorghum, 
&e. A good many specimens of the Pao-ke-tsao or Pi-lah (white 
wax) tree grow about here. I am inclined to think from enquiries 
made that the former, though also called by the latter name, is not 
quite the same tree as the * white wax tree ' of Kia-ting, possibly 
a variety of the same species. The villagers near Pao-ning said 
to, rnd also said that no insects were there fed on the tree then 
before me. But a trader whom I met contradicted this, and his 
story is the more likely to be true in that a small quantity of 
white wax is undoubtedly produced at Sin-ohdn Pa, a Sub-district 
of Nan-pu on the left bank, and also at Fei-lung Ch'ang in Nan- 
ch'uDg Hien. in both cases from insects brought annually from 
Kia-ting. T^uti^ trees were common, as indeed they have been over 
all the road from Ch'ung-k*ing. A persimmon (Dw»pyro$ kaki) 
tree was the only novelty ; the bamboos, willows, cedars, and other 
trees, frequently above specitied, being about as before. After 
travelling twenty /i (very lung ones) we again take the river bank, 
and, crossing a few troublesome hills, reach the village-town of 
Faog-lung Ch*ang, 25 U from Pao-ning. On the road we met vaat 
quantities of native cloth being conveyed from Ting-yiian Hien, a 
District which produces a superior quality. The women in the 
T*nDg-oh'uan and Pao-ning Prefectures are engaged with silk in 
the early summer, and, being too poor to indulge in the luxury of 
squeezed feet, work with the men in the paddy fields. Probably 
this accounts for so much cotton cloth being imported. Yet the 
old women and girls in the houses, here aa elsewhere, were often 



98 Up the Yan^'tse. 

engaged in spinning yarn. The wheel is exceedingly roogh and 
simple. In shape it resembles the silk-reeling wheel, and the 
woman sits with her right hand on a handle or crank which turns 
the wheel, holding in her left hanks of cotton, ginned and cleaned, 
about the length and breadth of a good-sized barley-sugar stick. 
The wheel is connected with and turns a spindle, whose axis runs 
parallel to that of the wheel. The end near and pointing to the 
woman's toes is prolonged and pointed like an awl. The end of 
the thread having been made fast to the spindle, of course it turns 
round many times faster than the wheel, whose circumference is so 
much greater. The woman serves out with her left hand, the 
fingers of which deftly regulate the supply, the hank she holds. 
The pressure upon the frail thread is not great at the point of 
the spindle; and, as the latter revolyes, and the thread is 
carried farther back, it gets twisted and more capable of 
resisting pressure. Yet it frequently breaks, and is joined 
to the cotton hank by rubbing the two together between 
the Angers. Of course, such a rude method produces a very un- 
even thread, accounting for the coarse and fluffy appearance of 
Chinese cloth, which also has the defect of being woven narrow, — 
not more than 18 inches across. I was told foreign cloths were 
freely sold at Pao-ning, but that they were expensiye. Yet I 
never noticed any in the shops or on the roads. Pao-ning and the 
country around is self-supplying in cotton when the year is good ; 
otherwise it supplements itself from Shen Si and Ch^ung-k'ing. 

Near Ch4en-fang Ngai, 5 li beyond Fang-lung, were a number 
of gaily-painted and somewhat massive Buddhas, <bc., carved out 
of the solid rock : the river takes an awkward bend opposite this 
place, and probably these eiHgies are intended to ward ofi* disaster. 
One was being newly sculptured as we passed, and, really, the 
workmanship was far from contemptible. 

The next objects of note were loads of bamboo fans of strong 
but coarse manufacture, being conveyed from Jung-shan Hien ; 
also lamp-wick grass from Yuh-ch4h Hien, and hempen-cloth from 
Lin-shui Hien. On the other hand, there seemed to be little or no 
traffic on the river, the dread of likin stations, in this case, as with 
the Sbe-hung liivor, rendering these fine highways almost useless 
for many purposes. I noticed in one place a private proolamatioo 



A Journey In Js^orth Sz CJt'iian. 99 

ftgaintt the praotioe of female infantioide, but everybody from 
whom I enqaired assured me that this praotioe was rare in Sz 
Ch'aan. Perhaps there is more than one reason. I ha?e already 
alluded to the export of women to 8hen 8i. To-day several of my 
humble travelling companions regaled me with stories of the whole- 
sale export of women by way of the Yang-tsze to Hankow, and 
various places in Hu Nan and Hu Peh. Perhaps, (though the men 
had never heard of Shanghai), they are destined for the numerous 
native brothels in that place. The traffic is clandestine, but is 
connived at by the police at certain likin stations, who charge a 
transit duty of 500 cash on each woman. In order to avoid detec- 
tion at Ch'ung-k'ing, they are shipped lower down the river, and 
barraoooned in dozens or half-dozens at Mu-tung or Fu Chou. 
That native-frequented brothels alone can have an interest in this 
objectionable traffic is evident from the fact that small-footed 
wonen fetch the highest prices, — from Tls. 10 to Tls. 30 a female. 
They speedily double, triple, and quadruple their value as they 
descend the Great River.* A little farther on we pass the bound- 
ary between the Lang-chung and Nan-pu Districts, into the terri- 
tory of the latter of which we now enter for the second time. An 
ornithologist would have rather good opportunities about here. I 
have already mentioned some curious birds on the T'ung-ch'uan 
road. To-day we passed several of the rail kind which were quite 
unfamiliar to me. Also some of the small black diving birds, such 
as we had seen on the Sung-k*an Rivtir in Kwei Chou. I noticed 
one very pretty bird like a tiny black, or dark, neutral-tinted parrot 
with the head of a blackbird. The burr of a fine cock-pheasant 
roused a faint sportsman-like instinct within me. Cuckoos, (f>aii- 
kuh ch*ud)f minahs, and daws were pretty common. We pass the 
village of Hd-ihui T*ang in cutting across our fourth bend, at the 
Southern end of which is Lao-wa Ngai, our stage for the day. 
Nominally 45 /i, it took us 7 hours of hard work, and recalled 
bitter experiences along the weary roads of Kwei Chou. From 
Pao-ning to Shnn-k*ing there are nominally three stages, but they 
are notoriously long 280 ^', and are known as the man §an cKan or 
'three savage stages.' The ground enclosed between all theee 

* This aecoant has sinoe been twice officially conflrmed in me- 
morials sent to Peking by the OoTemor. 



J 

I 



100 Up the Yang'ise, 

bends, for a mile or two from the river, is invariably flat, as was 
often the case along the Sh^-hung River. Otherwise, in calibre 
and bank scenery, both these streams may be compared with the 
Fu-shun River, except that the rapids are of still less consequence. 
Ten li beyond Lao-wa Ngai, the direct road to Shun-k'ing 
leaves the main-road, which takes a round to Nan-pu Hien, and 
rejoins it at Tsao-erh-li, 15 !i further on. As each side of the 
triangle is 15 /i, that distance is therefore saved by avoiding 
Nan-pu. A few li further on we crossed the Si-ho, (the same river 
that we had crossed before daylight the morning succeeding our 
sleepless night), and, continuing our course due south, as it had 
oonsistently been hitherto, came to a remarkably handsome jt>*ai7ofi, 
'virtuous arch,' or portal in honour of chastity, where a road 
branches off to Si-ch*ung Hien, 120 li to the south-west. We are 
now quite out of sight of the Pao-ning River, and even of the 
channel in which it runs, although from the elevated points in our 
up-and-down zig-zag apology for a road we can occasionally obtain 
extensive views in all directions. The places passed en route are 
so insignificant as hardly to deserve naming ; but we may select for 
that honour P'i-p'a Ch'ang, where we took a snack in the shape of 
some Vang yiian^ (or hot boiled no-mi^ or glutinous-rice cakes), 
filled with coarse red sugar. Before crossing the Si-ho, we had 
passed a considerable number of the Nan-pu salt wells, which 
differ in little from those of She-hung Hien : perhaps they are 
smaller and meaner, but the yield of brine appears to be more 
generous, one or two wells, opposite which we stopped, furnishing 
BIZ or seven loads a-day. We aUo passed one boiling shed, where 
there were a dozen pans at work evaporating shui htca salt. The 
cost of the salt varied with the market from TIs. 9 to Tls. 12 the 
100 catties; but the local salt catty has 120 instead of 16 ounces ; 
so that 750 ordinary catties cost Tls. 10, or, say, 15,000 cash, just 
20 cash a catty. The /i7ci;i was 4J cash the local catty, or about § 
of a cash fur an ordinary catty. The fuel used was coal brought 
down on cow-back from Pao-ning. Most of the Nan-pu salt, how- 
ever, comes from a place callod Pei-wan-sz, on the other side of the 
river, about 30 li from Nan-pu Hien. We met coolies carrying 
this, or rather pan salt, into Shen Si, where it sells at very high 
prices, sometimes over 100 cash the catty. Three cash the li per 



A Journey in XorfJt Sz Ch'uan. 101 

hundred catties, or, Bay, a halfpenny a mile a large hundred- 
weight, iH the rate paid : some of it goes in short stages, being pass- 
ed on from hand to hai.d, and, in other cases, the porters pay their 
way along by selling portions of the salt. A remarkable feature in 
to-day*8 journty was the re-appenrance in great numbers of the 
ch^ang-kaufj, or brushwood oak, which disappeared suddenly after 
Hoh Chou. The commonest road shrub all the way has been the 
hwang chatuj, a plant in process of identification.* We put up 
for the night at Cliung-pa Ch*ang, 80 U from Lao-wa Ngai. 

The next day's journey lay through the safflower country, 
now, however, plnnted chietly with yams and other vegetables. 
Rice as a rule only occupied the bottom lands between the feet of 
the hills. Jufct btfure the commencement of the salfljwer sea- 
son, the whole country is Baid to be one mass of red flowers, but 
at the present times it has a singularly buld appearance. The red 
telesoope-pyramid type of hill replaces the less cultivated and 
aorabby yellow or white sandstone ; the whole country far and 
wide has been denuded of nearly all trees except a few of the 
mulberry, t^utif/^ and bamboo ; and the newly transplanted yam 
shoots, {hung-shao Ung VA), are not sufficiently high to diversify 
the colour of the red ground. Yams are planted in furrows, and 
banked up like celery. Cotton was the most common crop after 
the yam. Men and women w*»re engnjjod in A^wing this latter, a 
process which, unlike the same term applied to paddy, may be 
translated by its English symphony * hoeing.' In addition to this, 
clods of earth containing a plant were neatly du'< out from spots 
where the seed had come np too thick, and reset in places where 
the aeed had not come up at all. The young rice was everywhere 
now well on, and about 18 inches or two feet high, but as yet no 
grain ears had appeared. iSometimes, when paddy-land is in- 
sufficiently moistened by rain for rice, yams are plinted there also. 

A road runs from Chung-pa Ch'ang to Si-ch'ung, 90 li dis- 
tant. Our route continues due south past Ma-ngan Ch'ang for 33 
/i', until we cross the frontier of Nan-pu and puss into the District 
of Nan-ch*ung, (the Prefectural District city of 8hun-k*ing is 
Nan-ch*ung Hion) ; two li farther on is a small roadside inn, call- 
ed Wa-tieu-tM or Sin-ch'ang Ya, and, 15 li beyond this, the 

• 1 find this is Vitfx nfoitndo. 



A Joiimet/ in JS^orth Sz Ch uan. 103 

lord deposit money at the rate of 1,030 cash an annual load, whioh 
at the Chinese rate of-interest, would add another 100 oash at least 
to the S'^O. 

The lopped mulberry trees aloni^ the roid frequently had their 
short bare branches twisted together in a circle, the object of 
whioh was said to be to make the leaves (^row. Those whioh grow 
after the * silk month ' — the 4th — appear to be of no use whatever, 
but still the tree has to be lopped in preparation for next year. 

We cr«»8s a brook traversed by an exceeJinj^ly solid bri<l)(e on 
leaving Lu-ch'i P*u, and, once well in the country, meet a com- 
pany of Actors ^*i\i\^ to perform at Ma-an Ch'un^. We had, on 
our passage through that place, noticed that one of the theatrical 
pavilions with which almost every considerahltt village in North 
8.: Ch'uan seems provided, was in (| state of preparation. They 
generally stand in the middle of a small square, and, with their 
tawdry surroundings, resemble not a little the shabby piazzas of 
miHiern Italy. Thfse actors looked indeed a seedy and dissolute 
looking lot, as they straggled along the country road with their 
heavy trunks, coir bedding, shabby gilded and silvered spears, 
monkeys, puppy-dogs, and other histrionic app^nntments and 
pets; they looked as it they had mintaken the moon for the 
risi.ig sun, and hurriedly dressed themselves out of the dirty 
clothes basket. At Kin-to Ch'ang, \o ii^ the morning rice was not 
yet steam»fd, and, as our luxurious coolies objected to bare boiled 
rice, we went on for early breakfast another 10 /< to a roadside 
eating-house called T*u-ti Va. Fuel is expensive in the neigh- 
bourhood of Shun-k'ing, as was evidenced from the fact that 
coarse grass was cultivated for cooking purposes. Some porters 
carrying coal from the direction of Shun-k'ing said that it 
came from a place called Lung-muri Ch*ang. The land now 
became more stony, and we crossed one long mound entirely 
composed of round stones. Near here we passed one of the most 
extensive and clean-looking farms I had yet seen in Sz Ch*uan. 
It was a hwa-ch*amj or * saffron flower yard,* where the pur- 
chasers come to view samples, and to spend a few days in 
negotiations. The crop has been very good this year, and the price 
quoted to me in the city of Shun-k*ing was Tls. oH the 100 catties, 
ordinary scale, llice occupied nearly all the low valley here, and 



10 Jf Up the Yaiig-t&e, 

all we saw of saffron was bundles of the withered stalks and 
bracts being; carried away for fuel. Ten li further on, we passed 
through the villajj^e of King-ch'i Ho, beyond which a brook or 
small river runs tortuously into the Pao-ning lliver, six miles above 
Shun-k'ing city. The little river is crossed at Ein^-oh*i by a 
splendid level bridge built of enormous slabs of stone, and orna- 
mented, as is often the case in Sz Ch*uan, with dragon-heads on 
one side aii'l tails on the other. M minting gradually a hill (whioh 
bounds the villey aw the south) to the height of 300 feet, we get 
a view of the Pao-ning Uiver sweeping round from the north-east, 
and of the King-eh*i, or * River King,' twining its way through 
the low-lands. From Wu-li T'ang, the top of the hill, to Shan- 
king it is 20 /*, and very soon the pagoda-protectors of the city 
come into view ; the 20 H descent is very gradual, and the country 
of no special interest. We enter the suburb of Shun-k*ing at a 
gate quite close to the river, past which a small creek, (not 
navigable, running from Si-ch'ung), dammed up at the month, 
runs into the latter. As we went up the long and bustling 
street, we passed a mirionette show, in which figures of 
painted wood or cardboard, transparent enough to show the colours 
through the light, were danced about from behind a sheet. 
No attempt at illusion was made. The spectators had only to 
pop their heads round the sheet to see the men handling the sticks 
and strings, and speaking in falsetto voices, with the orchestra 
of deafening instruments which always forms the accompaniment 
of Chinese shows. 

Shun-k*ing Fu is a huge collection of shaky structures extend- 
ing two miles along the right bank of the Kia-ling Kiang. It is 
chiefly famous for its saffron trade. Its salt comes from P'Sng- 
ch'i, and its coal in boats from Pao-ning. The distances from 
Sl»uu-k'ing are Si-ch'ung, l)i) ; P'Ong Chou, 120; P'eng-ch*i Hien, 
120; Ting-yiian Hien, 220; Vunj;-shan Ilien, 180; and Yoh.ch»ih 
Hien, 100 h, P*eng-ch*i is also 120 /* from Si-ch*ung. Opposite 
Sliun-k'ing, the river divides round a low marshy island, both 
branches being obstructed b}' ra|»iil3 and shallows. In order to 
prevent the inner channel from undermiiting the city, which is 
bunded in quite close to the water, the expedient has this year 
been hit upon of casting baskets of heavy stones in the middle. 



A Journey in Xorth Sz Ch*uan. 105 

ihna keeping the rapid current on the off-side and aeouring an an- 
eborage and sluggish current for oonvenienoe of upward junks on 
the inner side. A great many thousand tons of stones must have 
been used, at an expense of, it was said, over Tls. 5,000. This ia 
all yerj nioe for the trading junks, (of wbiob, by the way, there 
were very few moored off the city), but it is a yery objectionable 
arrangement for persons wishing to cross the riyer. First of all we 
had to trayerse the city to a ferry at the lower end of the Vi or 
mole ; then we bad to shoot out into the current and drift with the 
rapid, after which we crawled painfully up the shallowa on the 
other bank and worked our way round the upper end of the marab, 
again drifting across the further channel, and again labooring up 
to the ferry, — a most bungling arrangement 

The road to Yoh-ch*ih Hien is for 60 /i a steady mount, with 
occasional dips, in a south-easterly direction as far as Fou-m6a 
K*an, which is as nearly as poasible 1,000 feet above Shun-k*ing« 
The places passed are Wa-tien-taz, 15, Siao-fdn Chiang, 30, and 
Ch'ing-shui Ya, 45 U^ all from Shun-k'ing. The country is moun- 
tainous, though tilled to the very tops of the bills, which are red, 
thinly wooded, and of the wavy pyramidal type hitherto noticed, 
except at the highest points, where their outline is bolder. TIm 
rice wae coming on but poorly, and it wae evident that the country 
wae suffering from want of rain, which bad not fallen in any quan- 
tity for some montha. Cotton disappeared with the numerous little 
plains which we had creased at intervals, almost all the way from 
8ui-ning round by T*nng-ch*ttan and Pao-ning. I saw no tobacco; 
nor, in fact, anything but rice, sorghum, maize and pulse. The 
road ia in excellent repair, as I half expected to find it, seeing that 
an official understrapper had particularly warned me the day 
before that it waa execrable. The panoramaa of the aurrounding 
country, which one obtaina from yarioua pointa on the road, eaped- 
ally of the river as it runa both above and below 8hun-k*ing, art 
auperb. Croaaing the neck of Fou-mdn E*an, we get an equally 
anperb proqwot on the other aide : aeenery, tmei monotonoua, yet 
soft and expansive. We deaoend rapidly 12 ft to Chlng-oh'i 
Cb*ang, where much graaa-oloth, (BoeAmerta), or the hemp of it, it 
produced, and where a fair waa being held as we arrived. Jnat 
before entering the town, we paas the boundary-stone between 



106 Up tlu Tang-fse. 

Nan-oh'nng and Toh-oh'ih Districts. This place is the limit of 
the northern coal con sumption, the small amount used in the forges 
•oming from San-hwei via Toh-ch*ih. Numerous porters laden 
with eotton-cloth for the north, sueh as we had met on the Pao- 
Bing road, reminded us that we were entering a spinning district ; 
and, sure enough, at our destination Hsin-lung Ch*ang, 27 li 
beyond Ch*ing-eh*i, almost every woman was at a spinning-wheel. 
The cloth was valued at 400-500 eash the piece of 32 feet. Other 
men were carrying cedar faggots to Shun-k4ng, where they sold 
at 6 cash for three sticks, together heavier than an Irishman's 
■billelagh. Coal, they said, was sold in the city for 12 cash the 
eatty. On the road we overtook the marionette man whom we had 
seen the previous day. He was leisurely setting up his apparatus 
in a eonntry village, and the local joskins and queans were sitting 
patiently on the steps of a joss-house, waiting until happiness 
should hegin. Old ladies, washed and cleaned up for the occasion, 
hobbled in from the neighbouring hamlets, and looked quite 
homely and decent old bodies in their threadbare but well-scrubbed 
blue gowns. The marionettes are evidently usually played at 
night, as is plain from their local name of ting-ying-rh^ — almost 
Uterally * magic lantern.' 

A man carrying four very superior -looking, large, iron 
cooking-pans, said they were made at a place called San-hwei in 
K*tt Hien, and that the iron was superior even to that of 
Feng-tu. The pans cost over 700 cash each at the factory, over 
800 at Kwang-an, and 1,100 at Shun-ki*ing, five days' journey 
off; that is, it pays a man to travel with four iron pans on his 
■boulders for five days for 1,600 cash, or, eay, five shillings. 
Another bevy of porters were coming towards Sbun-k4ng with 
taffron-flowers. 

Just before entering Ch4ng-oh*i, we crossed a small river — 
evidently giving its name to the town, — which runs from Siao-fu 
Ch'ang to the Eia-ling River at Ch*i-t*ou Pa. We mount and 
descend 500 or 600 feet twice between Ch*ing-ch*i and Hsin-lung 
Ch'ang, passing across, in the intervening valley, another small 
stream, which runs from Hsien-tsz Shan and enters the Eia-ling 
at Ta-k*ou T*an. The last ridge or neck (almost always marked 
bv a grateful and solitary hwang-koh tree) is called Sz-tsz Shan, 



A Journey in Xorth Sz CTiuan. 107 

mod from thenoe we disoern the (at the distanoe) exoeptionallj 
piotaretque market-town of Hsin-lnng Ch'aog, oar quarters for 
the night. 

We made bnt a short stage next day to Toh-ch*ih Hien, a 
District under the Prefecture of 8bun-k*ing. The places passed 
were Kau-s^n Ch*ang, 18 h\ Lung-ja P'u, 15 (i\ the city heing 
19 1% more. The country was hillji abounded in fine yiews, and, 
generally, differed in no way from that of the previous day. 
Wheat (threshed) was selling on the roads for fifty cash the local 
$heng, (quart), of five catties ; — say a trifle oyer a farthing a pound. 
Large quantities of writing paper, (keu-lien), were being oonyeyed 
from Lin-shui Hien to Shun-k4ng. The load of 80 catties con- 
sisted of thirty reams,* {tao\ and was worth 200 cash the ream in 
Lio-shni. Cotton-spinning was going on at every ho«se-door, and 
yarions kinds of hemp were being hawked about. The writing 
paper (made of bamboo) of Lin-shiii is inferior to that of Kia-ting 
Fu. A root drug {? Radix Ari Maerouri) called pan-hna, looking 
like round pellets of bone, and costing ten cash an ounce, was her« 
and there drying in the sun, and I was told that Kik Hien, some 
distance up the Sui-ting River, (which we are approaching), was 
famous for its parsnipst {pai-iho), 

Toh-ch*ih is 180 li from Ting-yuan, which place is 190 /t from 
Kwaog-an Chou.t It is chiefly noted for its large production of 
laapwick grass, enormous loads of which may be at any time met 
floating down the Tangtsze. The city is remarkable for its invisi- 
bility, being completely hidden from view both on its north and south 
rides. It appears to lie in a sunken portion of a small level plateau 
•bout 400 feet above the level of the Pao-ning River. Its popula* 
tion is enumerated at about 3,000 house-holders, and seven or eight 
people on the average are locally computed to herd in each dingy 
oot. The Magistrate's Vatnin is exceptionally large and fiae, 
and, as is often the case, its open frontage is used as a sort of ex« 
change. By local custom, land-tax is paid at a large tea-house 
within the official grounds, where the tax-payer and the dun oaa 
haggle at their ease. There are eighteen licentiates allotted, (in- 

• 100 sheets. 

t The ehU^h pan shoh is still another sort of parsnip (or peony root f). 

I These distances do not tally with the maptf. 



108 Up the Tang'tse, 

eluding ' old ' and ' newly inoreased '), to the District, whioh is a 
small and poor one. Some of the gentry told me that four per 
cent, was considered the usual annual return derivahle out of 
landed property. Land-hunger is as much the passion of the 
8z Gh'uanese as it is of the French peasant, and its gratifica- 
tion is usually preferred as an investment in life to a oommeroial 
or official career. The salt consumption of the District is partly 
P<dng-ch*i, (inland), and partly Tsz-liu Ching, (along the Sui-ting 
River), as is also the case with Kwang-an Chou. In leaving the 
town, we passed a very fine farm and homestead belonging to one 
of the gentry with whom I had been speaking the day before. 
The river whioh passes near the town is of no commercial use, and 
is only at certain times navigable for small boats as far as Ting- 
yiian. The road to Kwang-an is at present in very bad condi- 
tion for the first ten miles at least, as it runs through uninterest- 
ing paddy-land. Towards Kwang-an Chou it is betteri and at 
the same time much more hilly. The distance is 60 /i, and the 
places passed are T*u-mdn P<u, 10 /t, Ta-shih Cb*iao, 20 &', a 
village just beyond the Yoh-ch*ih and Kwang-an boundary atone, 
40 /t, and Hwo-sdn Miao, 60 li from Toh-oh'ih and 10 U from 
Kwang-an. A short distance from the walls of Kwang-an, we 
crossed a small stream called Si-ch*i Ho, and passed through a 
village of the same name, where a great deal of cloth dyeing with 
indigo, and of smith's work in San-hwei iron, was going on. Coal 
appears to be cheap and of good quality. San-hwei, the place 
from whioh it comes, and which would seem to be the Glasgow of 
north-east Sz Ch'uan, is at the junction where two rivers, one 
from Pa Chou and the other from SU-ting Fu, meet on their way 
down to Hoh Chou. A good deal of coal and iron-work was being 
conveyed to Toh-ohMh. Maize, beaus, and a little tobacco of the 
kind called liu-ytk yen or * willow leaf,' and hemp, were, with rice 
and wiok-grass, the chief crops in the ground. Shortly after passing 
the boundary stone, we branched off more to the east from another 
road to Lin-shui which is shorter by five /t. In approaching 
Kwang-an by land, we descend somewhat suddenly from a pass, 
find ourselves in view of a very picturesquely situated town, just 
at a bend where the Sui-ting River, coming from the north, turns 
east. Below the city the river is rocky and very pretty, and a 



A Journey in Xorth Sz Cfiuan, 109 

number of large janks were moored noder the walls. Ten li aboT6 
the eitj is the moet formidable rapid, laid to be ten li in length, 
upon thia river, and half-a-mile below the town the two other 
■eoood-olasa rapids called the * Ta ' and * Siao ' Lnog-tsz ; bat, as 
the largest junks oan go up to 8ii-ting, none of the upper rapids 
ean be of yery much consequenoe. I have already described those 
below Hob Chou. We follow the right bank for a oonple of miles, 
and cross by a bro^d and handsome bridge the Si-ch*i Ho, which, 
after almost touching the west corner of Kwang-an city, takes a 
turn amongst the hills, and empties itself into the Sai-ting Biver 
here. We then cut across a bend, and once more sight the river 
at the small rapid of Kwan-tau Ch*i, 10 /i, where the river runs 
through a sort of low rocky gate somewhat like a miniature Pa Hiah 
of the Upper Yangtsze. We then cut across another bend, and 
cross to the left bank at a spot five li from the large market-town 
of Kan-ch4 Ch*ang, 30 li from Ewsng-an. The height of the 
river above the sea, according to one untested aneroid, is only 600 
feet, or 300 feet lower than the Tang-tsze, — an impossible result to 
be ascribed to the state of the weather ; and Ean-ch'i Ch'ang is 
350 feet above the river. We had hitherto been remarkably lucky 
with the weather, and, owing to the convenient absence of sun, I 
had passed most of the month of June in serge and flannels ; in- 
deed, it had several times been much hotter even in April ; but 
to-day the heat was overpowering, so much so that one of the chair- 
eoolies had to knock under with fever and ague. A number of 
inhabited timber rafts were floating past the ferry, and ' unsettled ' 
opium was being hawked in the village for 80 cash the ounce. 
Coal of excellent quality, from near Liu-shui, was selling on the 
q^t for 80 cash the man-load. 

A tremendous thunderstorm ushered us out of Kan-ch'i 
Ch'ang, but at the same time grat4f fully cooled the air. We made 
16 li to a village called 8hih*ohiao P*u, at the foot of a long range 
of hills known as Hwa-yung Shan, which is, according to our 'cap- 
tain,' one and the same range with that which we crossed, after 
leaving Ch*ung-k*ing, at Kau-tien-tss. We then had to do 15 
U of rather severe climbing to a village lying on the bank of a 
remarkable mountain lake called T'ien-ch*ih, the level of which is 
said never to change, and which oommunieatee with a weird cave, 



110 Up the Yani'tse. 

aod eomes out in the fonn of a river near £aa-€hH Ch'aag. I law 
neither, as I did not hear of them until too late. Owin^ to a 
bridge having become unsafe, we had to make a little exeunioa im 
boats aeroM a comer of this lake, which reminded me lomewhat of 
one of the higher Killamej Lakes, bat, of course, the seenerj was 
much inferior and less wooded, and the human beings entirelj 
devoid of wit, beauty, or poetry. Ten li more of severe climbiag 
brought us to a tiny plain in a sort of hollow which looked as 
though it also should have been a lake. This flat space was 2,000 
feet above the river near Ean-ch*i Chiang. Near the top of the 
ridge, 3\>0 feet higher, we passed the boundary stone between 
Kwang-an and Lin-shui, and, after mounting 40 feet aMre, we 
reached our highest point, and very soon commenced a dese«it. 
The highest spot traversed by the road is, apart from possible 
variations, about 3,000 feet above the sea leveL From the mo- 
ment we commenced our ascent, the mountain scenery had been 
beautiful : it was indeed the first genuine mountain scenery we 
had sinoe leaving Chhuig-k*ing. The rocks were ealeareons {yu 
kwang tib'A), with nothing of sandstone in their compoeition. As 
we approached the top, the firs and pines, which we had not seen 
for so long, became commoner and commoner, until, at last, thej 
were almost the only trees to be seen. The table-land at the top 
of the ridge is quite uncultivated, and is simply a grassy sward,— 
a refreshing but rare sight in China. Looking backward, we had 
already had some splendid views ; there was a misty glamour on 
the side whence we had oome, yet we could easily make out the 
river curving round from Kwang-an Chou to Kan-ch'i Ch'ang. 
On the other side the air was perfectly clear, and we had the most 
superb and extensive views. Our own range stretched away from 
the north-east to the south-west ; and opposite to us, on the other 
side of the undulated valley, in which the city of Lin-shui 
Hien lay like a dot, were two other parallel ranges running 
in the same direction. Lin-shui did not look more than 10 U 
distant, but it was thirty-five. From this distance as a standard, 
it was evident that we could command a distinct and dear view 
of at least 50 miles in every direction exoept that whenoe we had 
come. Descending the mountain steps was very like coming down 
the Rock of Gibraltar, and we were very glad of a rest at 



A Journey in Xorth Sx Ch'uan, 111 

Lo-kwo P*a, 980 feet from the top, and still 20 It from Lin- 

•boi. 

Of the citj of Lin-shni Hieo it is aoneoesMry to laj anj- 
tbiog exoept that it is as dirty and uuinteresting aa all Ss 
Cb'aaD cities that I have seen are. The people, howeyer, 
•eemed quiet and respectful. From the moment I started 
from Ch*nn((-k*ing a sort of instinct made me look for- 
ward with horror to the prospect of crossini^ from Lin-shui to 
Ch*nng-k*ing. The open tunnel between two ranges of hills 
through which we were to swelter was to my imagination almost 
as painful an ordeal to pass as a miniature Desert of Sahara. My 
worst anticipations were realised. The sun shone with frightful 
force ; the inns were small and dirty ; the distances (100 /t a day), 
long ; and the coolies tired. There is no river, (at least I could not 
see any), at Lin-shui ; bnt, shortly after leaving the city, we oame 
in sight of a stream running past T*ai-lung Kang into the Tang- 
tsse. The first halt was at Mdog-chia Ch*ang, 35 A', a village 
which looked quite close the day before, aa we surveyed the plain 
from the hill-top. Eight li beyond this, we crossed another stream 
running north and south, which was said to run into one of the 
greater rivers at T'ung-ching Ewan, under the Kiang-peh Sub- 
prefecture. A little further on, another stream joins it, and at 
this spot we had the pleasure of walking along half-a-mile of real 
river meadow, for all the world like that which one sees on the 
banks of English rivers, — for instance, at Hereford. Ho-liu Shui 
is 60 li from Lin-shui, and there we tried in vain to procure coolies 
at any prioe : * they had never carried an official ohairi and did 
not like the responsibility.' In order to relieve the exhausted 
coolies, therefore, I was obliged to do a good deal of plodding in 
the broiling sun, — a process the danger of which is, I think, much 
exaggerated, as long as you are airily clad, and thoroughly shaded 
and protected about the head. Eighteen li beyond this, we crossed 
a brook running from west to east, the steep rocky banks of which 
were thickly dotted with most interesting and extensive-looking 
lian-tsi Tung, the entrances to which did not seem, in the dia- 
taaee, to have any of that telescopic or fluted appearance hitherto 
so univeraal, but were cut quite sheer and plain. It was too hot, 
however, almost even to raise the eyes, let alone to think of scram- 



lit Up the Tan^'tse. 

hling up. A yery long; ten li farther on was Pe-yang Pa, simply 
one large house, fortunately with one tolerably habitable room in 
it. We must have made 110 it that day, as we turned in worn 
and weary at dusk. The next morning we resumed what must 
really be oalled our terrible journey, passing some more Man-tsz 
Tung at Ch4-kung Ch*i, (15 li), and feeling already exhausted 
when we reached a small village, 5 li further on. We now seemed 
to be emerging from the tunnel as we mounted several hundred 
feet to the left, passing first Kau-shan Chiang, and then a road- 
side inn, {yao tien Uz), and crossed the unmarked boundary of 
£iang-pSh T4ng at an altitude of about 2,000 feet, obtaining 
again, certainly, some most magnificent and extensive views. 
Things reached a climax at the market-town of Ts*z-chuh Lin, 
(1,500 feet), where a dense throng of dirty marketers beset the 
slimiest of inns. Here we succeeded with some difficulty in hiring 
a few men, and, after this, each coolie had his five li of plain 
walking to an alternate five li of carrying, — a great relief to the 
poor fellows indeed. The next stage of about 40 li to Shih-ban 
Ta-*rh seemed interminable ; but, at last, as evening was dosing 
in, we reached our not so very execrable inn after a journey of 13 
honrs ;^ver 105 li. The country calls for no special remark, and, 
oertainly, the people seemed everywhere quiet and orderly, con- 
trary to the reputation usually borne by or officially given to the 
inhabitants of this Sub- prefecture. Next day, after making 27 li, 
we crossed, by a bridge, a river running south-west, and took our 
last tiffin at a market village called Liang-lu £*ou, (45 /•), shortly 
after leaving which we came in sight of odious Ch*ung-k4ng, still 
50 li away. Long before arriving at Liang-lu £'ou, we could 
make out the bend of the Tang-tsze at T*ang-chia T'o, about 30 li 
below Ch*ung-k4ng, but we could not see the river itself. Ten 
more li brought us to Hwang-kwo-p4ng, and 18 more to the con- 
siderable market- town of Ch'en T*an on the Tang-tsze, near a 
rapid of that name. The inn was crowded with exhausted coolies, 
swabbing themselves with hot water, and swilling down tea or 
gruel. 1 must, however, again say a good word for those dark 
little dunge.ons of rooms, which are in every other sense so disgust- 
ing. They are decidedly the coolest places you can be in on a hot 
day. The twenty H along the river bank to Kiang-pdh T*ing was 



Ji^an-cliuaii and the ICung-t'an River. 113 

perhapf the most painful part of our jonrney, as the road had got 
out of order, and we had to steer the ehairs through boulders and 
brushwood. But the longest lane has a turning, and at last we 
were in boats, crossing without the slightest difficulty the mouth 
of the Hoh Chou River, which is protected from the Yang-tsze 
current by a corner of Ch*ung-k*ing which juts out oyer ita 
entrance. This crossing is, howeyer, extremely dangerous when 
the waters of the Hoh Chou River are high ; and three days later, 
— the day after a serious attack on me by the populace, — three 
ferry boats of roughs, who came to bait the barbarian, were over- 
turned 00 their return, and 40 persons were drowned. 



NAN-CH'UAN AND THE KUNG-T*AN RIVER, 

Mu-tung, (Blakiston's Hu-tung), is a considerable market- 
town on the right bank of the Great Rivor, just at the point where 
this, in its downward course, takes a bend to the north-east. Like 
nearly all riverine towns in Eastern 82 Ch'uan, Mu-tung stands 
high above the winter banks ; and, according to the shewing of the 
barometer, is about 300 feet lower than the highest parts of 
C*hung-k*ing. Mu-tung is considered to be the first ch*ang or 
market-town of the Pa District, and is the seat of a Sub-district 
Deputy Magistrate. In a certain sense it may be called the port 
of Nan-ch*uan District, for here are discharged oonsignments of 
cotton from junks carrying upward cargoes to Ch'ung-k'ing ; the 
freight for the 90 additional /« to the latter city is thus saved, be- 
sidea the cost of carriage up the K4-kiang and Fo-t'ou rivers to 
Nan-ch*uan. Tea is also brought hither for export to Ch'ang-shou 
and other neighbouring towns, for Nan-ch'uan produces a (for 6z 
Ch*uan) very superior leaf. There are also large official salt ware- 
houses, and some flourishing rape-oil factories ; all which industriea 
combined make the town of more importance than an ordinary 
country mart. The large salt warehouses, the tea, cotton, rape, 
and other stores, are situated in the eastern part of the town, 
separated from the shipping suburb and port by a distance of half 
s mile. From thr> tnp of the hillti )»«hind thr tnwn a vory fine 



114 Up the Yan^'tse. 

▼iew of the Great River is obtained, and of the two bends of wMob 
Mn-tung is, bo to speak, the southern apex. The road from Fa 
Chon to Ch<ang-k*ing fans through the town, the former being 
two days', and the latter one day's land journey from Mu-tung. 
In the summer time, when the river is high, Fu Chou oan be 
reaohed by water in a short day's journey from Ch'ung-k4ng, 
though the distance is considerably over 400 li ; whilst the upward 
journey, on the other hand, takes from four to six days, according 
to the size of the junk, the largest of course taking the longest 
time. 

The road to Nan-ch'uan runs through both the maritime 
and the commercial towns, and passing San-chia P'u, five U 
distant,! takes a south-easterly direction to Ngai K'ou, thirteen 
U from Mu-tung. After ascending a ridge to the height of 
900 feet, it descends equally precipitately to Mei-tsz Eou. The 
bottom of this valley, a little below Mei-tsz Kon, is of exactly the 
same elevation as Mu-tung. On the way we met numbers of men 
carrying sung hiang or sung yu (resin or ? mastic), the price of 
which varies from 40 cash the catty in the country to 80 cash in 
the town. It looks like bees-wax, and is, I believe, chiefly used 
lor cementing coffins. One of the runners stated that his master, 
the Magistrate, had recently, on the decease of his maternal aunt» 
melted down as much as 80 catties of this nard as a lining to the 
lady's coffin. The coolies said that the material they were carry- 
ing came from ES-t^ou T'an, a place which subsequent enquiry 
shewed to be to the east of the Nan-ch'uan road. We also met 
innumerable coolies carrying heavy coffin-boards of 03 press (or ? 
cedar) and pine. Prices are of little use as a guide in these parts, 
where a few li of porterage speedily quadruple the cost ; but two 
dollars in the country and three to four taels in the town would 
seem to be a fair average price for one thick plank, t.«. one side of 
a coffin. The Chinese, who live in what to us seems a state of 
misery and filth, even when their means make such endurances 
unnecessary, spare no expense in order to be comfortable and 
fragrant in death. This, in so materialistic and unimaginative a 
people, seems to point to a very deep belief in a future life, 
although, (as I have submitted elsewhere)* this future seems 

* Chinese Comparative Family Law. 



Jfan'ch*uan and tJie Kun^-Van Biver. 115 

rtther to be embodied in the pasti if so paradoxioal an idea can be 
admitted. 

From the verj outset, the country looked poorer than on the 
road from Ch'ung-k'ing to K*i-kiang. Most of the irrigated 
arable lande, and those parts of the hills whioh were terraced and 
not oocupied by bamboo and pine plantations, were given up to 
paddy, and, lying sweating in the sun, under manure and water, 
presented anything but a charming picture to the eye, or a savory 
odour to the nose. The ridges between the paddy-fields and the 
other cultivated patches were taken up by beans,] peas, J rape, [and 
the poppy, all in a backward state compared with what we had 
aeeo a month earlier farther west. Perhaps a few words oonoem- 
ing the cultivation of rice as carried on in this part of the world 
will not be taken amiss. 

In 6z Ch'uan the #iii/, or Chinese acre, is almost unknown to 
popular parlance. The usual way is to speak of so many ian^ (300 
to 4€0 catties), of unhusked rice. For instance a^man who^ owns 
1,000 tan of paddy means that his land produces an autumn rice* 
crop worth about Tls. 3,000, irrespective of the house-rents, fang'' 
t$u, whioh he receives in addition to his share of the crops. A 
piece of land such as that mentioned would be worth perhaps Tie. 
40,000 in fee simple if near a river, aud only half that if 100 U 
distant ; for, in addition to water supply, the carriage of manure, 
and that of the grain to market must be considered. After paying 
the 1,000 tan to the landlord, the tenants would have perhaps 400 
tan to themselves ; but this depends upon the amount of the de- 
posit, yO'tsu, left by the farmer iu the hands of his landlord. For 
such an estate Tls. 4,000 would be an average deposit. Ready 
money easily produces 12 to 15 per cent, a year in Sz Ch'uan, 
though the income derived out of land does nut usually exceed 
seven per cent. The rule for payment of rents is ch*i yiieh Vien^ 
pa yiieh tau, whioh means that the tenant must renew his lease in 
the 7th moon for paddy-land, and for dry arable-land in the 8th 
moon. The tenant cannot be ejected as long as he pays his rent, 
and the rights of both landlord and tenant descend to their heirs. 
Paddy-land of the poorer sort, in which the poppy is not cultivated 
as a winter crop, is thus managed. In the 8th moon it is turned 
up with the plough, ch*ao titn ; and, after being left a short time 



116 Up the Yan^'tse. 

to the decomposing action of sua and sleet, the water is turned on 
to it in the 9th moon. During the 10th and llth moons, it is 
regularly ploughed, and harrowed. During the 12th and Ist 
moons these two processes are repeated, after which the sloppy 
mass is left to itself. The next step is to prepare a small portion 
of the land for the rearing of rice-shoots ; that is, all but an inch 
or so of water is allowed to run off, and the banks of the 
paddy -land are shored up with mud. Manure and lime are put 
into the land, and the seed (of course unhusked) is scattered 
in the second moon. About one quart of seed is required for a tan 
of unhusked rice, i.e, (in Sz Ch'uan) three catties for 300 
eatties. Scarecrows are then put up, and a watch against birds 
kept for about ten days. If the sun shines for three or four days 
during the next week or so, the young shoots will appear within a 
week or ten days after sowing. If it is dull and rainy for a 
fortnight on end, the seeds rot, and the whole process must be 
repeated in other ground. In twenty days the shoots are fire 
inches high, and then two or three inches of water are allowed to 
eoyer the shoot-land. Where no river is handy, water is collected 
and stored in high-level pits called yen-Vang, About one inch of 
water is now allowed to cover the land lying fallow, which, after 
being once more ploughed and harrowed, is planted, with the 
shoots, set two or three together. This is after the ch^ing-ming 
festival ; or, say, three weeks after the vernal equinox. It should 
be mentioned that the shoots for transplanting are pulled up, in 
handfuls at a time, by the roots. The next step is to press into 
the ground (to serve as manure) the outer decaying shoots in each 
bunch of two or three, leaving the healthy ones in the centre ; this 
is done about three weeks after transplanting. This process is 
repeated in the 4th or 5th moon, about 40 days after transplanting; 
and the crop is gathered in the 6th or 7th moon, about 100 days 
after the shoots have been transplanted. In the case of rich lands, 
from which the opium has been gathered in the third moon, these 
do not require to lie fallow, but have the water at once turned 
upon them, and after one ploughing and harrowing, are planted 
with shoots. 

Of trees we passed many more of the Aleurites vernicia than I 
had ever yet seen in one day's journey; many of them were just 



Xan-cli uan and the A'un£-t'a?i River. 117 

burttiog into blossom. Cherry and peaoh trees were to be seen 
everywhere in tiower, and the ubiquitous Hwany-koh^Bhu^ {f Ficus 
§la8lica)y in solitary majesty here and there. Another tree with 
long glazed large leaves was called by the peasants by the 
expressive name of niu-ahe Ian or ' neat's- tongue lan^\ being 
ignorant of botany, I was quite unable to identify this, as also 
another called the I'sz-ch^ix^, I noticed however a white flowered 
tree which the natives called Ch^i-li hiang or * seven furlong 
fragrance,' a name very like that which the Cantonese {Kau-lei' 
h(fng) give to the Murraya exotica. The porters have a peculiar 
way of carrying timber. You see approaching you what looks like 
a string of gigantic walking V's, which strongly remind one of the 
of 'sandwich men' of London. The V's approach point foremost, and 
each of the shanks rests upon the shoulder of the man who carries 
the planks. The man rests himself by simply cocking up the Y to 
as to allow its point to rest on the ground ; and in this way he can 
oarry four or six lou pan of pine, — a species of plank the measure* 
ment of which I have already explained elsewhere. Other coolies 
were carrying wooden ladles of all sizes, which I at first took to be 
the half gourds so common in the south ; it turned out, however, 
that they were carved out of pine- wood, and the price varied from 
40 to 90 cash according to size. 

8wan-pei-'rh is again 900 feet above the valley below Mai-taz 
kou, from which village it is distant eight /i. The general direction 
of the road was still south-east, which much surprised me consi- 
dering that, according to the maps, Nan-ch'uan was quite close to 
K*i-kiang. I observed here several pigs shod with grass shoes, 
tuch as I had already seen putj)n bufialoes and pigs in the more 
mountainous parts of K*i-kiang. The best grass slippers for men 
are made of hemp. 

A very considerable trade in grass-cloth is carried on at 
Ch'ung-k*ing. The cloth is woven from the fibre of the Chu^ma 
(Urtica or Boehmeria nivrn)^ a plant cultivated in considerable 
quantities all over Sz Ch*uan, but chiefly in the neighbourhood of 
Fu Chou and the Kung-t*an Uiver, and next in order in the 
district of Shui-lin and the prefecture of Kia-ting, much higher 
up the Yang-tsz. Villages oft«n cultivate small patches in the 
immediate neighbourhood of their cottages on bods of greasy clay, 



118 Up the Tang'tse. 

too rich for the raising of cereals, on aocount of its liability to be 
OYerruQ with insects. The seeds are sown in the spring, but need 
not be renewed. All that is necessary is that the stamps be each 
year oovered over with cow-dung after the stalks have been out or 
broken ofiP. The first and best crop, [t^0U'fa\ is gathered about the 
end of the year ; the second in the 3rd moon ; and the third in the 
6th or 7th moon. It is considered better to tear off the stalks than 
to cut them ; but, as this method is slower and more troublesome, 
it is not in use amongst the larger growers. The outer skin is 
stripped off with a ' hemp knife,' \ma tau\y and the stalks, or 
* bones,' [A:u], are then spread out to dry, in order to be rid of their 
humidity, [«Aut-cA*t]. Hemp exported at this stage is called 
ch^ing-ma or * gray hemp,' as distinguished from the pif or white 
staple, so-called after it has been more fully prepared. The stalks 
are next soaked in water, and their inner skins peeled offl 
They are then scutched, [/t], with knives, and washed in water 
impregnated with soda or potash ; and, after being once more dried, 
are handed over to female labourers, by whom they are heckled, 
[cA'tit] and drawn, [ch*i]. The fibres are after this spun into yam, 
lfan(/'8ien]y and woven, [chih-pujf into the famous summer cloth, 
Ihsia-pu], Most of the unfinished cloth is bleached, [p*iao]y in 
special factories, [tso-fant/] ; but the labour is also performed on a 
small scale by village proprietors. The bleaching requires from 20 
days to two months, according to the state of the weather, as much 
of the work has to be performed in the open air by a running 
stream, and the material has to be repeatedly re- wetted and 
re-dried. The chief hemp-cloth factories are those of Kiang-ohing, 
Lung-ch'ang, and Tung-ch'ang districts. The cost of the unwoven 
fibre is from 80 to 90 cash a catty of sixteen ounces, or 8 to 9 cash 
the ounce of selected fibre when sold retail. There are two 
descriptions of grass-cloth, the coarse and the fine, made up into 
pieces of 48 and 24 Chinese feet. The finest large pieces cost from 
Tls. 2 to Tls. 3, and the coarser Tls. 1 to Tls. 1.50. The smaller 
pieces are of course about half those prices. The chief export is to 
Peking, partly by water and partly by land ; partly, that is, by 
Bhen Si, and partly by Sha-shih and Fan Ch*dag. There is one 
large Peking establishment at Ch<ung-k4ng entirely engaged in 
this trade. The custom is for the Ch'ung-k*ing wholesale houses 



Jfan-ch'uan and the Kung't*an River, 119 

to adyanoe, the year before, a portion of the prioe to the Eiang- 
ehiog and Long-oh'ang factors, who then issne cironlar notioee to 
the Tillagen aooording to the orders received. There is a guild 
mart, [Kang\ for this commodity, and for hemp generally, at 
Ch'ung-k'ing, where the annnal transactions in grass-cloth alone 
are said to exoeed Tls. 200,000. 

A certain quantity of hu^ma or Ha Nan grass-plant is im- 
ported into 8z Ch'uan, and is used in the manufacture of shoe 
ioles ; but the plant is considered troublesome to deal with here on 
account of its small size. An exceedingly fine quality of grass- 
cloth is, however, manufactured in Hu Nan, costing double as much 
aa the local article. 

The unfinished fibre, or ch^ing-ma, is exported in bundles to 
Hankow and Canton, whence it is also called yiian-ma or * circular 
balls of fa^mp.' The plant grows to a height of four feet, and the 
stalks are about j of an inch in thickness. 

A coarser specimen of hemp is the hwo-ma or ' fire hemp,' 
which grows to a height of 10 feet or more, and is two inches in 
thickness. The fibre is obtained much as in the case of the chu-ma^ 
except that the stumps, after the stalks have been severed, are 
ploughed up and used as fuel. The price of the fibre is nearly the 
same as the finer but more delicate kind, and the cost of the rope 
into which it is twisted is about 120 cash a catty. In coming up the 
river, I was informed by the boatmen that the cost of the halyards, 
(which resembled Manila rope), was from 200 to 300 cash a catty. 

A third description of hemp is the Vung-^na^ the tree pro- 
ducing which grows to a height of ten or more feet, and beara 
a fruit somewhat resembling that of the Aleuriiei vtrnicia. It 
has four lobes, and each lobe contains a number of kernels. 
The fibre costs from 40 to 50 cash a catty, and is used in the 
manufacture of coarse packing rope. The rope, on account of 
its being almost invariably mixed with the next and last kind^ 
costs no more than the untwisted fibre, most of which is said to 
come from Ya Chou in Western Sz Ch'uan. 

The cheapest and coarsest hempen fibre is obtained from the 
chuh'fna or * bamboo-hemp,' the thick stalks of which are first 
burnt until softened, and then snapped into lengths. The skin ia 
then torn ufT, and the inner portion, [rAim/]* which is the fibre, 



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J^an-ch'iiaJi tiiid the Kung-t^an River, lit 

After leaving T'ien-taz Tien, the road runs due south to foot 
«f Fu-la (or Ha-lu) Kwan. Ten U from the former place jou paaa 
through a woodeu gateway which marks the eastern boundary ol 
Pa flien. We are now in Nan-ch'uan. We overtook a few coolies 
carrying cotton cloth and aalt, but most of the salt centred at Ma- 
tung is consumed by the surrounding villages, the main Nan* 
ch'uan supply going vid E*i-kiang. There were a good many 
paper factories on this road ; and in one case we saw the water 
being conveyed up-hill by thin bamboo pipes carried across a g«lley 
starting from a higher level on the opposite side. The coarsest 
brown paper is called chih k^ou^ but, like the finer i8*ao ehih or 
* grass paper,' is also msde from bamboo, the pounding being leas 
complete. Pd-sha Ching is 20 ; Pe-sha Ch*ang, 21 ; Fdn-shui 
Ling, 30; Pa-ku Ch*iao, 40; and T*ien-chia Ch*iso 45 U from 
T*ieo-t8i Tien. During the past 80 miles there has been do appre- 
ciable change of level in the road, though the country around ia 
decidedly cut up and irregular. We now began to come aoroea tea \ 
trees, which are much higher here than I have ever seen them ; 
(as yet I have seen but few); some standing 20 feet above the 
ground. The leaf picking is begun as soon as the bird called the 
^ng ch*uo or kwei-ku yung (P cuckoo) begins to sing, which ia 
after the Ching -ming Festival, or about the middle of April. The 
Chinese say that this bird is very seldom seen : in fact they say it 
is invisible ; according to their account, it is about the siae of a 
dove. On the banks enclosing the tea plantatiooa were also a 
number of mulberry trees. 

Just as I was beginning to tire of this tame scenery and level 
road, which was apparently going to continue southward in- 
definitely along the guUey, we turned sharp ofif to the east and 
commenced a steep ascent. Before we knew what we were abouty 
we had climbed 480 feet, and arrived at a village at the top of the 
ridge called Hu-lu Kwan, thus 2,180 feet above the sea. On the 
way up we passed numberless flowerets, ferns, brambles, and 
thorns, which, I should think, would have been a feast for a 
botanist. An edible fern called ckUek ehi (P PUrU ucultita)^ 
grew in great quantities on the sandstone hills. The Chinese call 
sandstone s^-sAiA, which is an exact translation of our word. 
They also distinguish the yellow, white, and grey. For the first 



122 Up the Tang'tse. 

time here I noticed some peas with white flowers, andlwas told that 
these were the ts^ai toUf a sort of French bean, also used^in the 
manufacture of sweetmeats. 

A reddish thick velyetty-looking leaf, growing at the end of a 
long fluffy stalk of the same colour, was called Mao-t^ung^tsz, and 
was stated to be used as a cure for madness : it is also said that 
ropes are made with the bark. A small white flower they said was 
the Twan-ch^ang i$*ao^ or * bowel-bursting grass,' which is poi- 
sonous to horses ; and a daisy- like flower growing on a thorn or 
nettle, the Hwang-p^ao, This I think must haye been a wild rasp- 
l^rry. We tiffined at Hu4u Ewan, and then took an easterly and 
south-easterly course through a series of very picturesque pine 
forests. Twenty li brought us to Ewan-yin Ch*iao, a large 
market where the fair was going on. 

Leaving Ewan-yin Ch'iao, our road now took a more easterly 
course to Chin-chia Ch4ao, fifteen /t, after passing which village 
we went still more east, and mounted the side of a hill to a point 
which the barometer marked 1,800 feet above Mu-tung. Looking 
back, we found we were at the upper apex of a horse-shoe, 
enclosing between two hills the valley we had just left, and forming 
a sort of Niagara without water. A little further on, we got a 
wide view of the country to the west, and found that T*ien-t*ai Sz 
and ShSn-^un (not tu) Shan, — mentioned in my account of the E*i- 
kiang road, — were 250 li in that direction ; so there can be no 
doubt whatever that the position of Nan-ch'uan, as marked on the 
maps, is exceedingly erroneous. The scenery so far was tame ; 
eternal paddy ridges, hemmed in with thinly flr-covered hills. Of 
trees cherry seemed one of the most common. A tree with an ovate 
leaf called tshi^^Uz-ahu I failed to recognise. I observed also 
several Mung'tsz-shUf the proper name^ for which I hope to ferret 
out before long. We met numerous porters carrying varnish from 
the varnish-tree (CA't-sAu, P Sandaraca, or Rhii9 vemicifera), and 
soot from the Aleurites (T^utig-yu : Yen'Uz)^ used in the manufac- 
ture of ink. It was not unusual to meet men whose sole burden 
was five dollars' worth of cash. In this part of the country, money 

* iB Ap. It has a fruit like the GledUsckia iinentit ; is thorny ; 
and its wood is esteemed for making cotton -ginning bows. 



Jfan-cJiuan and the Kung't*an River. JfJ 

it ofiully heavier than the goods it puroha8e8« The road now 
turned more tontbward to P'ai-fang, a tumble-down hostelry 25 U 
from Nan-ch'uan. There were a great many nps and downs for 
the next few A', until we reached an opening in the hills called 
Lan-yi Kwan, (600 feet lower than oar highest point in the morn- 
ing), whence a precipitous descent led to the plain of Nan-oh'naBy 
a tiny Talley, perhaps four miles in diameter, hemmed in on all 
•idea by the mountains. We could see the city in a south-westerly 
direction. During the last few li we had met coolies carrying 
Hwai'tn (Sophotajaponica, price 50-00 cash the catty), used for 
dying neutral tints, and had overtaken others carrying native 
homeepun from Sha-shih and other places in Hu Peh. It was done 
up in bundles of 20 catties each, worth ten dollars a bundle ; one 
man carried four bundles on his back. We also witnessed part of 
the manufacture of native cloth in a place where a man wae 
arranging the kinp, or warp threads, from an arrangement of 
bobbins placed in an arc. Spinning, with a very clumsy^ looking 
octagonal wheel, was going on in most of the country houses. The 
native cloth appears to be a much superior article to the foreign^ 
whose only virtues are its cheapness, neatness and whiteness. Of 
trees I here noticed the iTtret-Au^a, or Olea fragrana^ and the JJas- 
Vang-Uz (or ? Cydonia jajn/fiica). Also a shrub called the Ying^ 
ihang^hufifff (? Rhododendron) ^ whose existence I only note here in 
the expectation of identifying it at some future period. Half way 
across the Nan-ch'uan valley we passed a picturesque CAieA-ZTtcan- 
Ving^ or * official reception hall,' with temple combined, situated on 
an island in the river which rises in the mountains about 30 U to 
the south, and runs into the Great Kiver at Lin Sbih, 180 U from 
Kan-ch'uan and 60 from Fu Chou. From this it is more than ever 
plain that the position of the former city on the maps is very 
faultily, not to say absurdly, determined. Near the islet was a 
very fine stone bridge of 60 feet span, in one single bold aroh. 
The bridge was 20 feet wide at least, and looked Brobdignagian 
compared with the surrounding pathway and houses. It is called 
the Lung-ohing Ch*iao. 

Between the bridge and the city are several very large irrigating 
machines, which are about the best specimens of primitive engineer- 
ing I have ai yet seen in China. They are in the shape of enormoua 



124 Up the Tang'tse, 

bat lightly constructed wheels, some of them between 30 and 40 
feet in diameter. The paddles are of matting, and are propelled bj 
the force of the current. Between each pair of paddles, and 
running diagonally across the tire-face (so to speak] of the wheel, 
is a bamboo tube, closed at one end and open at the other. As each 
of these descends, its open end catches up the water, out of which 
it emerges only when the position of the tube is such that the water 
eannot flow out. Of course this position is reyersed when the wheel 
has completed half a rcTolution, so that the water is poured from 
each tube as soon as each successively reaches the upper circum- 
ference of the wheel. But a bamboo channel is erected on a frame- 
work so as to catch this flow, and two other bamboo tubes or 
lengths of tube communicate at right-angles with the two ends of 
this channel, and, slightly declining, carry the water to the fields 
above. I have a vague recollection of having seen something of 
the sort at the Taku salt flats, but there I think the wheels were 
propelled by sails. The barometer marked 73.20 in the hotel at 
which I lodged. It had been set at 75.50 when I started from 
Ch'ung-k'ing, so that Nan-eh*uan must be about 750 English feet 
higher, or 1,550 feet above the sea level. I should add that the 
aneroid barometer referred to is one of French construction, marking 
one millimetre for every ten mdtres. 

There was a good deal of opium growing in the Nan-oh'uaii 
valley ; of the other crops wheat holding the flrst place. I had seen 
very little of either cf these on the road from Mu-tuog, and even 
in this valley they were in a rather backward state. The district 
is evidently a sterile and poor one compared with that of Pa Hien ; 
amongst other signs of poverty, I noticed that the road was in a 
very bad state of repair, although in several places it was being 
substantially improved, whilst the few bridges we crossed were 
quite equal to the average. The rivers marked in the maps must 
be purely imaginary, for we crossed nothing deserving the name 
even of a brooklet the whole way until we arrived at Nan-ch'uan. 
/^ Nan-ch'uan is a small and insignificant looking city, even 
for 8z Ch'uan, where all the cities except Ch'Sng-tu are of 
uncommonly limited area. The second city of the Province, 
Ch'ung-k*ing, is certainly not a fifth the size of Canton, either 
in population or space covered. The chief export from Nan-ch^aan 



JiTaTt'eJiuan and the Kun§-t*an River, 125 

it tea, which, however, only goes to Ho Choa, Fa Chou, Ch'uog- 
k'iog, and a few neighhouriog towns, and is unknown to trade 
oatside the Province. Admirable coal, in fine lumps, without a 
particle of smoke, sells in the town for 9 cash the 10 catties of 24 
ouDoes a catty, that is, four shillings and two-pence the ton. In 
the direction of Mu-tung this coal does not appear to be carried 
beyond Kwan-yin Ch4ao, and its satellite villages. The land-tax 
is about lis. 2,000 nominal, with lis. 2,000 * extra/ {(Jhing-VieK), 
and other levies, which bring it up to Tls. 9,000 a year. The salt 
ooosumption is 90 yt'/i, or about 900,000 catties a year, of Fu-shan 
pan salt, the centres of distribution being Mu-tung and E*i-kiang. 
The population of the city and suburbs is not much if at all over 
ten thousand, and that of the district about ten times as many. 
As the basis, on which the official salt trade is calculated, is a 
minimum consumption of 3 mace weight a head j^tr diem^ i.e. seven 
catties a year, the computations of salt consumption and popula- 
tion sufficiently tally. There are over 60 Ch^ang-fln^ or market- 
villages, in the district, and their small importance may be 
estimated from the fact that 30 H (10 miles) is the furthest 
distance from which countrymen come even to the city market, 
which takes place nine times a month. Along the roads there 
are numerous complimentary stone tablets erected in honour 
of 'our old father and mother,' the Magistrate, a benign old 
gentleman from Hainan, who has occupied his post for more 
than ten years. The people are excessively curious, but not 
violent, and are apparently less suspicious and cunning than their 
brethren of Ch'ung-k*ing. I was detained one day in this place 
by rain. 

The weather did not look very promising as we started from 
Nan-ch*uan ; in fact, the first forty li to 6i-yang Kwan were a 
sullen plod through the inhospitable mud. The chief place passed 
was T*u-ch*iao, half way, a village which evidently takes its name 
from the fine large bridge close by. A small stream from the south 
called the Lung-ku-ch*e Kiver, here joins the rivulet which runt 
past Nan-ch*aan. 8o far, our general course was east-touth-easU 
At Sin-p'u-taz, five li beyond Si-yang Kwan, the road branches 
off in two directions, one branch running east to Pan-ho, and the 
other, which we took, following the oourse of the Lung-ko-oh'e 



126 Up the Yan^'tse. 

River to Ta Ho-pa. There appears to be no first-elass oommnnios- 
tion between Nan-ch'uan and any place south of it. A famous 
table-land called the Ein Shan forms an almost insuperable bar- 
rier, but may either be crossed by a pass which bisects it called 
the Ta Ta ; or rounded by way of Pan-ho, Ma-tsui, and Ta-kwo 
Ch*ang to the east ; or, again, by way of Li-yung Ch'ang, Siao Ho- 
pa, T*u.t*u-ch*iao, and Td-lung Ch*ang to the west All three 
roads are execrable, but that by way of the Ta-ya-k*oa was uni- 
yersally pronounced to be impracticable for chairsi and very 
difficult CTcn for pedestrians : this was the road, however, which I 
determined to take, in order to make Siu-shan Hien from the 
south, and to descend the Kung-t'an Kiver (which enters the 
Tang-tsze at Fu Chou) at any point 1 might find convenient. The 
twenty li through the gorge from Sin-p'u-tsz to Ta Ho-pa present 
no great difficulty, except that there is rather a severe climb up 
to Ngai Ch*ien, two li from Ta Ho-pa. The scenery all the way is 
wild and fine, and cultivation of anything but maize ceases almost 
from the moment you enter the gorge. We met some porters 
carrying 120-oatty loads of sulphur in cakes of 12 catties apiece, 
which they said came from the summit of Ein Shan. They receive 
400 cash for the journey ; and the sulphur, which costs 2,700 cash 
a load on the mountain, sells for 4,400 at Nan-ch<uan. The mines 
are worked under the surveillance of the Nan-ch*uan Magistrate. 
At Ch'uDg-k'ing native sulphur costs 100 cash a catty ; foreign 
sulphur twenty or thirty times as much. Other porters were con- 
veying loads of medicinal roots for which the mountain is famous : 
Btiieh'Ving^ * blood cane,' (? gambier), a root having a red-colour- 
ed pith ; and Hwang -chiao^ken were amongst those I noticed ; 
besides two herbs called Ti-touMen and Sz-chiang-toU'rh^ quite un- 
known to me. No doubt many of the simples used by the Chinese 
pharmacists are of great value, but in their anxiety to add to the 
number of their old snd valuable remedies, they seem to have run 
to a ridiculous extreme, and to have assumed that every plant with 
a strange colour or taste possesses some mysterious virtue. In the 
gorge I saw growing on a bush a large bean resembling the 
'locust,' which was stated to be a valuable remedy for jaundice; 
they called it the Nien-u)ang't*n, It serves as a thorny hedge. 
Ta Ho-pa is simply a sheltered acre or two of arable land at 



Jfan-cJiuan and tlie Kung-t*an River. Ii7 

the foot of Eia Shan, with a single hut for the aooommodation of 
trayeUera. Tet I was very comfortable ia mj barn-like qaarters, 
away from the odioas smells inseparable from town habitations. 
Jiut above the Pa or 'slope/ a very fine peak or crag juts 
out boldly into the middle of the gorge; the next day, when 
we had mounted far above it, I ascertained that it was called 
Tu-ma-t*ou, or * Nag's Head.* No rice was procurable at Ta Ho- 
pa, nor indeed anything whatever but maize, the winds being, 
according to local statement, too strong for other crops. The 
p*i-p*a (Ervfbotryajaponica)^ was to be seen amongst the brush- 
wood, firs, and bamboos which covered the mountain sides, and a 
cauliflower-like flower called the Yamj-iz-tsz was to be seen every- 
where. The height of Ta Ho-pa above Ch'uog-k*ing I made out 
to be 1,800 feet. 

When we started upon our formidable climb of the celebrated 
Kin Shan, we could see nothing whatever of its summit ia any 
direction. It was a drizzling and threatening day, which looked 
as if the wet season was beginning. Retreat was inglorious; 
advance bordered on despair. However, as soon as we had reached 
a height of 3,830 feet above the sea, the mist below as partly 
cleared off', and enabled us to look over the Tu-ma-t'ou, and the 
sea of hills beyond. Nan-ch*uan lay to the north-west, and al- 
though we could not distinguish the city through the mist, yet we 
oould form a good idea of the splendid view that must be obtained 
in clear weather. When it is very fine, not only Nan-ch'uan, bat 
also £*i-kiang can be distinguished from the summit of Kin-shaa. 
By the way, the stages between these two cities are Wan-shoa 
Ch*ang and Tsao-kwo P'ien, the former 60 li from Nan-ch*uaQy 
and the latter 60 li from K'i-kiang, and the two 6) U from each 
other ; that is 180 /i, or sixty miles in all, — the same distance at 
to the Great River at Lin Shih. 

It was as much as six men could do to get my empty chair 
up the mountain ; it was the first offiuial chair that had ever been 
up its side, and created almost as much astonishment at a coach- 
and-six would do in driving up Snowdon from Llanberia. The 
mist very accommodatingly transferred itself for a few momenta 
from the summit once more to the foot of the topmost peaks, when 
we had gained the height of 4,160 feet above the sea. Three 



1^8 Up the Yaii^-tse, 

peaks standing out on the west side of the table-land marked the 
positions of Kin Fu-sz and Sz-tsz E'ou, near which place are the 
' new' and 'old ladders/ by which alone that part of the moantain 
can be scaled. From what I could see of the part south of us, Eia 
Shan is an irregular mass about ten or fifteen miles in diameter, 
bisected at about 1,000 feet from its highest levels by the Pass of 
Ta-ya-k*ou. The upper part of the mountain is perfectly sheer in 
almost every direction, but the irregular top, which resembles a 
cork rudely thrust into a squat bottle, is broken up into cathedral- 
like spires aud other fantastic shapes. Our highest point I made 
4,850 above the sea, and, just before reaching it, the Ta-k'ou, or 
pass, takes a bend or two eastwards, (without, however, discon- 
tinuing its general southerly direction), across a moderately level 
portion called Shan-tsz P'ing. From this point we got occasional 
glimpses of the spire-like crags above us to the east ; yet at no 
time did I obtain a complete or prolonged view of any considerable 
part of this famous mountain. Snow was still on the ground at 
4,800-4,850 feet altitude ; and here not even maize would grow ; 
bamboo- shoots, potatoes, and Hwang-lien^ (? gentian), were the 
only comestible things that would come up. We passed several 
sheds or frames where the Hwang-lien is cultivated. A species 
of oak called the Ta-yeh P*ao Ch^ing-kang or ' soft, big-leafed 
oak,' and a tree called the ChHn-ch^ai (P Chin-ch^ai or Dendrobium) 
were amongst the brushwood, which, with bamboos and brakes, 
covered the top of the pass. Descending" 300 feet to T'ieh Ch'ang, 
we were pleased to find that rice was procurable. This place, (or 
places, for there are the upper and lower of that name), is so 
called from the iron-works there flourishing. Each furnace 
pays an annual licence of 48 strings of cash, and produces on 
the average about 18 tan of iron a day. The roughest iron, 
(Shing-j)ao)f after one smelting, is sold for two strings the 
140 catties, and the pig-iron, (3IaO't*ieh)f at 2,600 cash. Wood 
or charcoal fuel is used in the manufacture, coal-heat, (to use 
a local phrase,) not * bringing out the iron.* Wretched coolies 
struggle along with 140 catty loads of this iron upon their backs. 
Carrying-poles are but little used in the K'i-kiang and Nan- 
chu*uan districts, the almost universal means of porterage being 
the cradle, or basket, slung on to the back and shoulders. De- 



Jfan-ch'uarv and ttie Kung't*an River. 129 

Mending tnotfaer 250 feet, we came to a paper factoiy, where 
bamboo reeds were rotting in lime. Another kind of Tery tongk 
paoking-paper, (P*t-cAtA), is made from a tree called the JTou-fAiiy 
or * paper mulberry/ which is very common in Ewei Choa Pro- 
Tince. Near this factor}^, the mountain torrent descends in rather 
a pretty fall called Kan Ho-kon. The Ta-ya pass is owned by one 
or two rustics, one sturdy specimen of whom undertook to carry 
my trunk, (about 88 lbs), up and down the pass for the modest 
sum of sixpence. He said that he was rated a < six ^n of silver' 
tax-payer ; but that the ' custom ' was to count one Jtn as ninety 
cash, which, with ' expenses/ brought up his annual land-tax to 
oTer 1,000 cash a year, or over ten times as much as it nominally 
was. He owned a very wide tract of land, but most of it was 
unproductive of anything but brushwood, a little maize, and 
whatever medicinal roots he could find. 

Sin Ch'ang, 40 li from Ta Ho-pa, which was once a stage 
from the latter place, had recently ceased to exist. Nearly tha 
whole day was consumed in plodding those weary 40 [t, (more like 
80), in rain and slush, and we were obliged to quarter ourselves 
for the evening in the homestead of the rural headman ; — much to 
his disgust, for he imagined that (as with native officials) we wera 
going to live on his substance without paying him anything. But 
an understanding was soon come to, and we left the next morning 
on the best of terms. Headman E*ang's farm is 3,290 feet above 
the sea ; but we had to descend 270 feet from the high-road or 
path to get to it. From this house we got the first receding view 
of the Ta-ya, which I could now see was simply a slit in the table- 
land, not far from the top. Rounding a comer (3,560) we oame 
in view of Tu-lung Ch'ang to the south, at a distance of about 
four miles from us, but at the other side of an amphitheatre. The 
descent waa very difficult ; and, as we came down, we could see 
that we were leaving Kin Shan on the west of his chasms. A 
great many varnish trees, (CA*i-«Ati), were growing on this slope : 
they flower in the seventh moon, and are cut in the eighth or 
ninth. Varnish is also produced in the Sin Shan and Nan-ch'uaa 
Districts, and in the Tu-yang Department. Our lowest point was 
2,600 feet above the sea, where we crossed a stream running from 
the east in the direction of Siao Ho-pa. I think this must be the 



130 Up the Tang'tse. 

Fa-t<ou River, which joins the Sang-k'an River on the Ewei Choti 
frontier. As we monnted to TS-lang Chiang, (3,200), we obtained 
a very tolerable view of nearly the whole of Ein Shan and its pre- 
cipitous snmmits. The two ladders on the north side, which are 
said to scale the mountain in a score or so of stages of from ten to 
twenty feet apiece, and the Ta-ya Pass running north and south, 
appear to be the only approaches to this angry monster. I believe 
that hitherto no European has set his foot upon it ; and I regret 
that the state of the weather was such as to prevent my acquaint- 
ing myself more closely with it. 

Td-lung Chiang is approached from the west by the Siao Ho- 
pa road, and from the east by the Ma-tsui road, both running from 
Nan-oh'uan. I found that the pan-salt consumed in this market- 
town all came from E4-kiang, which says much for the difficulties 
of the Nan-ch'uan road. The Sz Gh'uan salt system would (under 
native management) be impossible, were the communications more 
open. No one can form a conception of the utter isolation and re- 
moteness of a Ewei Chou or Sz Ch'uan border city without having 
been there. The salt was not dear at 48 cash the catty ; but at 
Tdng-chia Pa, on the Ewei Chou frontier, only 60 li farther on, it 
was said to cost over 60 cash. The next place in Ewei Chou on 
the Tdng-chia Pa road is T<u Ch'i, 60 1% beyond. This, however, 
was not our route. After passing Li-chia P'ing, (3,335), five li 
from Td-lung, we rounded the amphitheatre to the east, and gain- 
ed the neck of Shui-hang Ch4n, (3,620), a Ya-k^ou or Y-like pass 
oonneoting two amphitheatres. The corner of Ein Shan which we 
had rounded in quitting the mountain lay to the North-west from 
this point. A few li further on the road divides, the east branch 
running to Tdng-ohia Pa, and the west, which we follow, running 
round the west side of the amphitheatre by way of Pwan-p'u-tsz, 
Bin-oh<ang, and Hwo-shih T*ai to another neck, almost exactly 
opposite that just mentioned. On this road I met ' mountain silk- 
worms ' being conveyed in airy baskets to market. The Ewei 
Chou likin on mountain silk (t.e. fed on the oak, not the mulberry) 
is Tls. 6 the hundred catties export. On other silk, (Hioafig'Sz)^ 
Tls. 10. The whole of the districts in the Tsun-i Prefecture pro- 
duce silk in large quantities. The amphitheatre we are now 
rounding presents some very fine, if not decidedly grand mountain 



Jfan-ch'uan and tJie Kung-t'an River. 131 

•oenery. First on oar east, and then on our north was the re- 
markable peak Chih-ma Shan or * Thumb Mountain,' jutting up 
for all the world like a thumb, perhaps a thousand feet out of the 
arena. Kin Shan was completely hidden by another rugged range 
which stood before it like a curtain, divided at the 8hni-hang 
ChHn Pass, and terminating in picturesque looking spires east and 
west. One of its most remarkable peaks, just abo?e the Pass, to 
the east, is called Sha Ngai. Far away to the west is dimly dLi- 
oemed a still higher range called P*ia-mu Shan. The roads were 
to sticky that onr coolies had to put on iron clamps, (Chiio Ma^ 
Uz)f under their straw shoes. These shoes, which cost from 10 to 
20 cash, (|d. to Id.), the pair, are admirably suited for rongh 
traTelling. One pair will last a week in fine, and at least a day 
in the worst weather. They are fastened on like a sandal, round 
the heel and through the interstice between the large and second 
toea. It was market day at Te-lung Chiang ; and amongst other 
things fowls were being conyeyed to market in hampers, one man 
carrying as many as 40 fowls on his shoulder pole, — for fowls do 

not seem to take kindly to the back. Maize was being planted, 
for reaping in the ninth moon, and indigo shoots for harvesting in 
the ninth to eleyenth moons. A road branches off, to the west of 
our road, to Ts<ao-pa Ch<ang, 70 /t, on the T<nng-tsz (Kwei Chou) 
frontier, passing the village of Kwan-fu Ch4ao. T<ung-tsz is 
celebrated for its AleuriU$ oil, quantities of which we met being 
carried to Ch<ung-k*ing. One hundred catties, worth 4,800 cash 
here, fetch 8,000 there. Arrived at the pass on the south side 
of our amphitheatre, we see that the Shui-haog Ch'in Pass lies 
E.N.E. of us, and, taking a last look at the magnificent mountain 
•oenery, we turn our faces south, and see that we are about to 
descend into a long narrow glen running south-south-east. Ho- 
ch4 Ch'ang, (2,000), our destination, is at the extreme end of 
this glen, which contains a great many and various trees, the 
Fhg'hiianfff* a reddish building wood, on the branches of which 
grow round prickly burs ; several large specimens of the Sz-li, I 
believe a sort of oak (P AleuriUi triloba) ; a tree called the Poo 
Ki'tMoo^ the bark of which when burnt gives out a fragrant 

* Or Hiiang-iM f Acer pieudo-platanut, or 7 Liquidambar for- 
mo$ana, or T a syctmore. The wood when buried is ssid to torn blaek. 



132 Up the Yan^'tse. 

odour; the Wu-pei-tsz, {f Rhus Seini^alatus)^ with withered look- 
ing tassels, (fruit gathered in the sixth moon) ; the jute palm, 
(Chamaerops or f Buraasus gomuttn) ; and of course the ubiquitous 
cypress, bamboo, peaoh-tree, &c. Opium and wheat were both 
being planted in this valley, and amongst the brushwood the 
eauliflower-like Yang-sz-Uz was universal. 

The best course for anyone to follow who (as is most unlikely) 
may wish to see this part of the country, is to do E*i-kiang and 
I^an-ch*uan together, without entering Kwei Chou at all. 

About five ^' from Ho-ch*i Chiang, you cross the frontier at a 

place where the stream here, running from the direction of Ewan-f a 

Ch'iao, takes a bend to the south. There is no village or yisiblo 

sign except a solitary tree perched high upon the crag, near to 

which is said to be a stone tablet. A good deal of opium was 

growing between Ho-ch4 and Sin Chow, (2,000), and wheat fields 

were numerous. I also observed fennel growing wild. Bin Chow 

produces saltpetre, quantities of which we met being conveyed to 

Nan-ch'uan, to be used in the powder manufacture. Some said 

the fuel used was Fe-hsiang (? cedar), others the Ma-lin 

(t Fraxinus), facts which convey no realisable information to me, 

but which I note down for future reference. Before reaching Sin 

Chow, our road divides into two, the eastern branch joining the 

Ma-tsui road at Ta-kwo Ch'ang, 90 li distant, passing Tiian Ts'dn 

and Hwui-lung Ch'ang, (each thirty li)^ on the way. The Kwan-fu 

Ch4ao stream runs to Yiian Ts'en ; but I may mention once for all 

that nothing we have yet seen, since leaving the Yang-tsze, at all 

deserves the name of a river. Our course from Sin Chow still lay 

south, through a small plain richly cultivated with opium and 

wheat, but not in a very advanced condition. At Tau-ma K'an, 

(5 /t), we commenced the ascent of the side of the narrow glen 

through which we were advancing ; and, after climbing 600 feet, 

reached the neck of Tsz-ni-'rh-p^o, (13 /i from Sin Chow). From 

this point we descended 600 feet, and continued along a not very 

interesting valley to Yang-hsin T'an, a little village which 

possesses a new bridge worth about twice as much as the whole 

contents of the village. In architecture it resembles very much 

those at Nan-oh'uan and T'u-ch'iao, being of one single arch, 

perhaps 70 feet in span. The top is flat, with a granite parapet to 



?{an'ch*uan and the Kun^'t*an River. 133 

keep paaaeDgers from slipping over ; at least twenty feet in breadth, 
it it mounted on each side by a handsome flight of^ granite steps ; 
in fact, the whole bridge appears to be of granite, — though of this 
I will not be certain, as I onl> observed this after I had crossed. 
The cost of it so far has been 6,000 strings, and 1,000 strings more 
are required to strengthen the piers or bastions at each end, and to 
embellish the wretched path which conducts to the bridge. Nothing 
is more striking in rustic China than the realty of property. At 
home, where personal property has assumed such dimensions as to 
be of equal importance with real, and to have become a matter to 
be taken for granted, it is difficult to conceive a state of affairs 
where property of value only exists in fields, cattle, and bridges. 
When we read of English Kings levying their fifteenths, it will 
not do to think of jewelry, coupons, pictures, and such personal 
luxuries. The interior of Carnarvon Castle gives one a fair idea of 
the personal property of the middle ages, which even in the case of 
the nobles, probably consisted chiefly in bedding arrangements, a 
silver ewer, arms, and personal apparel. As a rule a rustic Chinese 
house has nothing in it but a few dilapidated tables, benches, and 
cooking utensils. A man's other personal property is usually, or 
may be, on his back, and a fifteenth levied upon him would 
average no more than something like a lame table and an old 
waistcoat. Even amongst the rich, clothes are by far the most 
valuable part of their possessions. I was talking a few days ago 
to a Chinese Colonel whose family had just been shipwrecked. I 
■aid, * Well, after all, it is only clothes that have been damaged.* 
' Yes,' he said, ' but those are my official savings of several years.' 
The little stream which runs east from Yang-ch4 Ch4«o is 
said to continue its course to 8z-nan Fu in Kwei Chon Province, 
but I think that cannot possibly be ; if so, we shall come across it 
again. Leaving Yang-oh*i we ascended a mountain side in a 
southerly direction to the height of 870 feet, whence we obtained 
a very clear view of the Tsz-ni-'rh-p*o pass to our north-north- 
west. Having tiffined at a small inn just over the ridge, we 
descended 640 feet and proceeded along a not very interesting 
succession of winding valleys to An-si Chiang, a walled market- 
town with a population of perhaps 4,0<K). On the road we met 
(orters carrying eggs all the way to Nao-ch*uan. Money is 



134 Up the Fang'tse, 

eyidentlj very scarce in Ewei Chou, for, even on the frontier^ 
able-bodied men are content to work for 50 or 60 cash, (say three- 
pence), a day. A great deal has been said about the infinitesimal 
sum on which a Chinaman can live. Even in Canton, where 
money is very plentiful, I can vouch for the fact that one man can 
live (i.e. eat, for life in China consists chiefly in this) handsomely 
on two dollars a month. At Sung-k'an, in Kwei Chou, I was told 
by an official that a person possessing 2,000 strings (say $2,000) 
worth of property or capital was considered very well off, and, 
indeed, rich. My coolies consume about six bowls of rice a day, 
paying 7 cash for a full-sized, and four for a half -sized bowl ; the 
saucers of vegetables, sauces, and spices costing an extra three or 
four cash apiece. The fixed rate for mountain chair-bearers is 
300 cash a day ; so that these men can easily save 400 or 600 per 
cent, on their disbursements. The usual charge for lodging, 
including straw mattress and bedding or quilt, is from 10 to 20 
cash. A dollar currency, where the smallest unit is a cent, would 
be quite beyond the means of the inland provinces, where 
interminable wrangles take place over one single cash, and where 
one cent purchases almost anything a man wants. Beautifully 
woven light bamboo frame hats, made water-proof with oil-paper, 
cost from 20 to 30 cash. Fine wholesome deal buckets are made 
at 60 cash the pair in the country, and are sold at 80 cash in the 
towns, after 20 or 30 miles carriage. Straw shoes are from 10 to 
20 cash a pair ; and, in short, salt, at from twopence to threepence 
a catty, (a price which seems to us cheap enough), is about the 
only household article possessing a high value. The fine tough- 
looking paper, called PH-chih or * skin-paper,' already mentioned, 
is made in great quantities in this part of Ewei Chou, from the 
bark of a tree called the Rou-shu^ which also makes good rope. 
We saw this paper exposed for sale in most of the villages where 
markets were being held. Pigs are either driven to market in 
Irish fashion with a wisp of straw round their loins, or are carried 
in single baskets on the back, or in double baskets slung on 
ahoulder-poles. The dogs about here seem very snappish, and 
most of them are muzzled during the day with a piece of cord. In 
the hamlets I noticed advertisements of cures for hydrophobia, a 
disease which, according to the advertisers, first manifests itself by 



Jfanrch!vuin and the Kung-t'an River. 135 

dread shewn of the noise of a gong and fear of the breeze produced 
hj a palm leaf fan. Nearly all the houses on the frontier have a 
'retpeotable' certificate affixed to the door, reciting that, as order 
haa only just been restored in Kwei Chou, it has become necessary 
to make the rustic population answerable for its continuance, by 
organizing a system of mntual responsibility in tithes and hun- 
dreds. The certificates contain spaces for the name and original 
domicile of the householder, the date of his immigration, the names 
of bis wife, concubines, sons, uncles, mothers, and so on ; from 
which — were eTidence needed— it may be concluded that, as in Sz 
Ch*uan, the population all comes from Hu Kwang and Kiang Si. 
But the dialect spoken sufficiently proves this. 

Proclamations also contain warnings against the extortion of 
double or treble land-tax, but these probably mean very little ; as 
the magistrates are absolutely compelled to ek? out their insuffi- 
cient salaries by exactions of this kind, whilst the runners receive 
no pay whatever ; and, as they have over and over agiiiu told me, 
look to * warrants ' as their emolument. When a runm * receives 
a warrant, no matter for what purpose, whether to coUeot taxes, 
arrest offenders, or summon litigants or witnesses, he feeds on the 
* little brief authority' thus placed in his hands until he haa 
reached the limits to which his conscience, fear, or good-nature 
will permit him to go. 

At An-si Ch*ang the women assisted the men in the black- 
smiths' shops, sod it was a droll sight to watch an unkempt 
matron wielding a sledge hammer twice the size of her miserable 
foot. Balls of ink, made from the soot of the AUuriUs oil, were 
exposed for sale, and iron seemed to be good and plentiful. The 
poppy was growing, wherever the nature of the ground allowed it, 
all the way between Yang-oh*i and An-si, but not in a very ad- 
vanced state. Mulberry trees, 0U4i frayratM^ Chiian^Uz'thu (f 
Oroton uhi/erum)^ plum trees {Li-Uz) in flower, diversified the 
everlasting silkworm oak, bamboo, fir, pine, and cypress. 

The P^i-p^a* (loquat) was coming into flower ; some of the 
silkworm oaks grew to great heights, and resembled poplars; the 
Hwang-koh'9hu seemed to ha?e ^iven place to the Niu-ih^'hn^ 
and the ground gradually assumed a rockier, yellower, and more 

* This is ealled biba in the neighlx>arhood of Marseilles. 



136 Up the Tan4-tse. 

barren appearance. Maize waa telling (pieked fron tlie eob) at 
250 cash the local peek of ten eattiea — a halfpennj a pound, — and 
riee at the same rate. The country opens oat a little after wo 
leave An-«, and we seem to be roonding the range to the north as 
we go more east ; wheat and the poppj are more plentifoL An-«i 
is half way between Tang-ch4 and Chdng-an Choo, a distance of 
60 /t ; bnt the 1% on the Ewei Chon frontier seem doable the length 
of those on the Sz Ch'aan high-roads. At ChHao-chi Ho wo 
crossed a Terj picturesqae and handsome one-arched bridge OTer a 
stream rnnning throogh a yerj beautiful galley. This stream passes 
a mile or two to the north of ChSng-^n, and about fire miles be- 
yond that city is joined by another river coming from S&-yang 
Hien. I cannot help thinking this must be the same stream that 
we crossed in the morning ; or, what is more likely, that the stream 
of Tang-hsin Ch'iao joins it at some point in the mountains. Wo 
could not well cross twice a river running east on both ooeasions 
without having crossed it intermediately as it ran west. Both 
streams are un navigable. I now distinctly recognized a differenee 
in the people, who were healthier, honester, and more simple look- 
ing than what other Chinese call the ' Sz Ch*aan rat.' Climbing 
up the south side of the guUey to the pass of Lau-ying Kwan, wo 
see the pagoda of Chdng-an city to the south-south-east, and 
discern some mountains at least 4,000 feet above the city to the 
south-east, and beyond it. These are called T4en-la-hang, one 
of the peaks of which goes by the name of Tin-fu Sz, and is said 
to be the Fing-shui or 'geomantio ruler' of Ch*ang-k<ing city. 
I forgot to note down the elevation of ChSng-an ; but I think it 
was 900 feet above Ch*uDg.k4ng, or 1,700 feet above the sea. 

Cheng-an Chou is a diminutive little place with a population, 
all told, of 2,(>0J. The whole district only contains 10,000 house- 
holders. It pays an annual land-tax of Tls. 2,000 a year, and 
700 hundred-weight of rice. Eleven graduates are annually allot- 
ted to it, which is more than Nan-oh*uan has with ten times the 
population. The magistrate's salary is Tls. 100 with Tls. 700 
* anti-ex tort ioD ' allowance, as it is usually called, but of course 
this is not enough to keep him in decent state. The chief trade 
of the place is in Shan-aZf or wild-silk, from insects fed on the 
Ch*ing-kun(/ oak in the open air. A few miles beyond the city, I 



Jfait'ch'uaft and the Kun^-t'an lUver. 137 

met tome peaaanU oarrjing eggs, or rather caterpiliars just emerg- 
ing from the eggs, to be placed on the trees. The eggs come from 
Ho Nao, and on the spot were worth 4,000 cash the bowl of 40,000. 
When the grubs emerge from the eggs, they are placed upon clean 
white paper, and propped ap on the oak branches with cedar or P 
cypress leaves, (Biota orietUalii), The Kwei Chou people do not 
know how to manufacture or dye the silk, which goes back to Ho 
Kan for those purposes. 

I found Ch^Qg-an a most difficult place to get away from. 
The official high-road into 8z Ch*uan is by way of T^ung-tsz HieUi 
Sung-k*an, and K*i-kiang, or, to the eastern part, round by Sz-naa 
Ftt to Siu-shan. The prospect of three weeks' journey by way of 
8z-nan was exceedingly distasteful to me, and I therefore deter- 
mined to forsake my original intention of going to Siu-shan, and 
to strike east by way of Wu-ch*uan to Kuog-t*an, the highest 
nayigable point on the Fu Chou River, and an importaut frontier 
station. I lived almost literally in a pig-sty at Ch^ng-an. My 
room, the best in the inn, the best ion, again, in the town, was 
separated from the sty by a thin wooden partition. Windows are 
the exception rather than the rnle in Sz Ch'uan inns, and in this 
case a dim light was admitted through a filthy paper grating 
opening over the pig«sty. I had to choose between a curious gaping 
crowd in front, or dull light and penetrating rancid odours in the 
rear. Chinese inns must be the sorriest on the face of the earth. 
Perhaps the foulest spectacle the world offers is a Chinese oil-lamp 
standing (or rather tottering, for nothing stands firm) on a Chinese 
inn table. The fioor is the tl'>or of nature, which no one has takea 
the trouble even to level, let alone to cleanse. Sometimes, if not 
generally, a bucket or jar, containing contributions destined for 
the paddy fields, poisons the room with its unpoetical contenta. 
Cobwebs of ominous thickness invade every possible corner; the 
roof always leaks, and if you are unhappy enough to find a paper 
ceiling, it invariably showers dust and dirt through the holes 
around which the still existing fragments of it hang. The woeful 
discomfort is of itself complete, but is made worse for the foreign 
traveller by the ubiquitous noisy crowd, which assails him from 
above, below, at the sides, — from everywhere. The fresh mountain 
air and the beauties of nature are the only compensations which ho 



1S8 Up the Yani'tse. 

reoeiyes. I found at least ooe good thing in Gh^ng-an, howeyer, 
and that was honey, of the parest and finest desoription, and I 
endeavoured to sweeten life by eating a quarter of a pound of it at 
each meal. During the last five days I had been quite unable to 
make use of my chair, for even if the coolies had been able to 
stagger over those mountains, the sight of their slipping and 
straining was quite enough to deter me from the attempt. For- 
tunately I had a pair of American cloth-topped goloshes, and with 
these on I plodded through the slush for 100 good miles, and got 
quite the better of the grass shoes worn by the coolies. 

After a day's stay at Ch6ng-an we quitted the city by the east 
gate, and for the first 10 it proceeded along a very fair road, amid 
wheat and poppy patches, to the point where we met the river 
coming from Oh'iao-ch4 to our north. The road winds about a 
good deal, but its general course is east. Ta-yii T'ang is the first 
Tillage we pass ; this is the place where the Sii-yang (from the 
west) and the Ch4ao-ch*i Rivers join, the stream then running 
north, and entering the Fu Chou River at Eiang-k*ou. We had to 
cross the Sii-yang River in a boat ; the height of its bed above the 
sea is 1,700 feet. It looks a fine enough river at this point, but I 
was told that it was not navigated. Were there even decent cattle 
accommodation for travellers, nothing would be more delightful 
than to explore these small branches in a canoe. We mounted once 
more after leaving Ta-yQ T*ang, and at 2,160 feet above the sea 
turned south-east, and then again east to Ko-ling-wo, where a 
market was being held. Paper of all descriptions, native cloth, 
pigs, pork, puppies, rice, maize, tobacco, and cheap household 
utensils were exposed for sale. So far, I had seen and heard 
nothing of foreign goods anywhere ; except that near An-si Ch'ang 
I met a man carrying a load of what he said was Yang-pu, or 
* foreign piece-goods,' which were going to the dyers. As yet I 
have only seen the south-east part of Sz Ch*uan, (in which I 
include the Kwei Chou frontier which was once part of the former 
Province)*, and I can emphatically say I have seen nothing resem- 
bling wealth or comfort anywhere. Silk certainly is common 
enough in the towns, but on slattern backs. The only travelling 
chairs you meet on the road are paltry little affairs made out of 

* Mr. Hosiers otherwise ezoellent map is a little oat here. 



Jfan-ch'uan and the Kung-i^^an River. 1S9 

▼ftroiftbad bmU, and which yoa oan bay, fx>lM and all, for a dollar 
apiaot. The impresaion the people leave opon me is that of a 
BQapieiooiy nstidy, agricaltaral raoe, basying themsel?ea with 
•oergy about triflea, and storing up their petty gains in order to 
bnild a bandaomo tomb or join in erecting a splendid bridge. At 
T»-bo Pa» the landlord, whose house was a tumble-down shanty of 
mud and tbateh, and who never tasted rioe or tea, had just com- 
pleted a magnificent granite tomb for his mother's last repose. To 
their credit I must say that they seem remarkably honest in these 
parts ; for their squeezing and cheating propensities are only part 
of their trade-system, and cannot fairly be charged upon them as 
downright dishonesty. Schools are to be found in every village ; 
but grown-up people are never seen reading, and it is hopeless to 
get the namea of placea correctly put into writing. Fields teem 
with prodnoci but no one is sleek and fat. None of my followers 
or portera ever take off their clothes or wash ; and I never see 
anyone of either sex performing ablations of any description in the 
bousesy beyond occasionally washing the mad off their feet. In 
facty the rostio Chinese seems to be a rice-consuming automaton. 
He rises with the day, labours wearily for a pittance and a grave, 
sleeps at dusk, and knows as a rule nothing of anybody or any 
place twenty miles distant. Yet, though far from hilarious, he 
aeems contented and good-humoured, and quite unworried by 
ambitious carea. 

At Ko-ling-wo I saw some AkuriU$ nuts expoeed for sale,— 
the same as those Blakiston inoautiously devoured at Poison Reach. 
Tbey were 1,400 cash the ton, of ten tou, that is, the hundred 
weight, (133) lbs.), of ten pecks. The man did not know how 
many catties, (1( lbs.), the peck weighed, but he knew that one 
peck produced four catties of oil ; that is 3,500 cash worth of nuta 
would produce a pecul of oil, and we have already seen that the 
local price of a pecul of oil near Td-lung Ch'ang was 4,dOO cash* 
By the way, I forgot to mention that at Ch*iao-ch'i Ho on the 
other aide of Ch6ng-an Chow there are coal mines, producing very 
good but smoky coal. The prioe at the mines was 30 cash the ton, 
or pecul, and at the city, seven or eight miles farther on at the 
utmost, (counting in the difiBculties of the road), 80 cash ; that is, 
in one case two ahillings, and in the other five-and-sixpence 



140 Up the Tang-tse. 

the ton. Each coolie performed one journey a day, thus earnini^ 
50 cash. 

Leaving Eo-ling-wo, we ascended one of the sides of a narrow 
valley eastwards to a place called Mei-chia Shun, 3.050 feet above 
the sea. We had been told at Chong-an that onr first day's stage 
was 60 li ; but the man nt the station of Mei-chia Shan informed na 
that we had already come 6 ) /* but had not yet come half way, as 
we had still 30 li to go ! No two men ever give the same account 
of the distances, and the next man told us that it would be 
impossible to reach the stage that evening (it was then three 
o'clock). We now turned south-east and mounted up another 450 
feet, obtaining a magnificent view of the mountains to the north- 
west and south-west. For fifty miles at least in each of these 
directions we could see what resembled a vast sea of hills. The 
table-land of Kin Shan, or Kin-fu Shan, lay to our north-west, 
but covered by a provoking cloud, so that from first to last I never 
got a good view of this mountain. Sha Ngai, which some of our 
men also called P'ien Ngai, stood out very clearly about forty 
miles'^^off to the west of Kin Shan. Cheng-an Chou lay nestled 
amongst the hills due west uf us, and Yin-fu Sz was only a few 
miles to our south. It is said that when the furze on Yin-fu Sz 
catches fire, there will be floods at Ch*ung-k*ing. From the posi- 
tions of Ein (Gold) and Yin (Silver) Fu-sz, seen from the angle 
at which we viewed both, I should think that the latter is 
due south of the former. Our highest point to-day was about a 
mile further on, when we gained an elevation of 3,800 feet above 
the sea. Unfortunately the peak we had just turned stood between 
us and Ein Shan, so that for the last time we were disappointed. 
Descending about 200 feet, we put up at the small hamlet of 
Hwai-hwa Ch*ih, where my lodging was on the cold ground, or 
would have been, had I not rigged up a sort of bed apparatus, with 
stools and planks. My 17 followers huddled together in the loft. 
I much prefer airy quarters of this description to the squalor of an 
inn ; and indeed, had I only a covering against the rain, would as 
soon camp out altogether. The host and hostess of this farm 
seemed quite a happy couple, although the man was a cripple, and 
plunged along in a very ungainly way with his mis-shapen legs, 
lie seemed to take great pleasure in dandling the baby, whilst the 



Jfan-cliuan and the Kung-t'an River. 14J 

mother had a cheery laugh and a joyous garrulity quite rare 
amoogit the cramped Chinese womankind. 

It rained heavily through the night, and the pattering on the 
tiles within a few feet of the coolies* heads gave them a restless 
Dight of it. The poor fellows' nightmares and dreams seem to be 
confined to the question whether it will be a fine day or no, for 
a wet one means weary labouring over the stioky mud. It is 
difficult not to sympathise with so patient, even though so unsympa- 
thising, a race. Our fifty li from Cheng-an had been a good day's 
work, and the next day we only made fifteen /i', (five miles), or, 
according to some, ten li. This brought us to Ting-mdng-ngao, a 
village resembling those one sees in the Irish bogs ; dark, sloppy 
and brown. My room in the inn was pitch dark, and, I thought, 
until I lit the candle, miserably dirty ; however, I found that it 
was pretty well built, besides having a wooden floor; though I had 
to adopt all sorts of ingenious devices to stop up holes in the walls 
and shutters, through which the curious tried to get surreptitious 
Ti«ws of me. In one village I found the following rhyme (trans- 
lated) daubed on the wall : 

Bewail not mountains high and low. 

And dirty inns as on joa go ; 

Think of the woes, my cheery hearts, 

Of envoys sent to foreign parts ! 
As the rata had just eaten the breakfast laid out ready for my 
oonsnmption in the morning, and had kept me in a wakeful state, 
owing to my anxious and vengeful efiorts to surprise and summa- 
rily execute one as a warning, a poetic impulse evoked the fol- 
lowing ill-natured reply, which I wrote on the wall : 

Say not our lands are mean and frowsy ! 

'Tis yoa, my friends, that are so lousy. 

Our hostels make the traveller glad : 

The dream of them now makes me sad. 
The scenery thus far from Cheng-an in some places resembled 
the Pass of Glencoe, and in others the walk between Draemar and 
Ballater, but the wildness of the hills was rendered insipid by the 
inevitable paddy-field, which was sure to appear in any spot where 
it was possible to make it. 

There were a great many trees which I had never seen before ; 



14^ Up the Yani'tse. 

the ma-iang, a sort of < hemp' mulberry, but not nsed for silkworm 
feeding ; the tnu-chiangf or htang^ (P Coitus amarua), some sort of 
spioe (P pnt-chuk) ground up with their peppers by the Chinese ; 
the ting-mUf a large tree furnishing good sculptor's wood; the 
thui-ch^ing-hang, (somewhat like the Hibiscui ayriacus)^ I suppose 
a species of Quereua ; and a large tree, like a willow, called the 
hwa-ehHu (P Catalpa Bungeana), Of the Pinua kinds, the 9unq* 
had disappeared and given place to the «Aa, of which I saw some 
specimeDs at least six feet in diameter, and of the same red colour 
as the PtntM Bungeana or WeUingtonia gigantea — the * big treea * 
—of California, but without their spongy look ; the Chinese 
estimated their age at between 1000 and 2000 years. The cypreea, 
(or, quaere^ cedar), is here called the pi hnang^ and not the pi shu^ 
as in Sz Ch*uan ; it is used in the manufacture of inoense-stioksy 
and also as fuel in the making of gunpowder. Some other trees like 
banyans were called tung chHng shu ;t and a small tree called the 
hiiang kwei, (? Cinnamomum aromatieum)^ was said to be also used 
in the manufacture of incense. The fung^hnang grew in some 
places to almost the size of the aha : it had a very familiar look to 
me ; possibly it may be the sycamore tree : it had round prickly 
burs or cobs, about the size of a cherry, studded with pins. The 
fruit of the pi haiang in the state I saw it resembled a shrivelled 
cherry. Such are the feeble attempts at description which one 
ignorant of botany is fain to give. The AleuriUa or Eleococca 
was common, usually along the dividing ridges of fields ; also the 
silkworm oak, the varnish tree, (called by Williams the Rhua 
auecedanea) ; and of course the bamboo. I saw a few jute palms, 
several plum and cherry trees, some tea plantations, and one or 
two fields just planted with indigo shoots. Opium struggled here 
and there in not very fertile land ; beans and peas were backward 
and rare, and wheat conspicuous for its absence. Potatoes were 
met with in one place. (By the by, potatoes are common on Kin 
Shan). 

* The iha resembles our CbriBtmas trees, bat is maoh coarser, 
almost like a doable oomb. The tung is more hirsute and has a more 
priokly look. 

t Prodaces the drag ^jr jM «3p (f Bhut auccidaHeum)^ said to 

be the ssme as the wax or Pe la tree. 



Jfcmreh'uan and the Kuni-t'an Biver. 14S 

In makiDg our lixtj U from Ting-mang-ao to Ha-yang oh'ang, 
wo fotohod a oorfo round some diffioult-looking moantains, going 
first ioath, then toath-eaat, eait, north-east, and north ; the total 
result being east. Our STorage height for the first few miles was 
3200 feet, but we desoended to 2480. Three or four U from Ting- 
■lAng-ngao a small road goes east to Hwang-tu-Pa, by whioh 
8f-nan Fa ean be reached in six days* journey from Ch4ng-an, 
passing Chien-oh*a-ch*i, 140 ^'from Hwang-tu Pa, which is 120 U 
hwa Ch^ng-an. 8z-nan is 120 d* from Chien-ch*a-oh*i. Fifteen U 
from Ting-meog-ngao, a road goes south to P*iog-ti Tiian and 
P^-kwo-shu, both belonging to Ch^ag-sn ; and a little further oa 
another road runs south to Tang-ohia Yiian. Of oourse these 
'roads' are mere mountain paths, but the information may be 
useful to future travellers. At T*iog-ts2 Pa, about 25 U from Ting 
lf4ng-ngao, the boundaries of Chdng-an, 8z-nan, and Wu-oh*aaa 
meet, and we are now in Wu-oh*uan ; descending a few hundred 
yards, we cross the Ta-ch*e Ho, a small stream running from the 
south, and then descend to 1850 feet. The weather grew brighter 
during the day, and I imagine the barometer must hsTS gone up 
ooDsiderably, for our descent did not appear to be anything like so 
rapid as marked by the barometer. Shortly after this we oroeeed 
two other small streams also running from the south, one being 
spanned by a quaint-looking stone bridge surmounted by a paTilion 
of wood. In all these streams water-wheels, after the type first 
seen at Nan-ch*nan were very common; there were also sereral 
ingeniously oonttructed mill-races turning a borisontal wheels 
resembling a teetotum box, or the inner side of a mushroom, the 
axis of which was extended upwards through a hole, oommuni- 
eating with a co?ered shed and a stone rice-threshing eirculsr 
channelled fioor. To the upper end of the axle was attached a 
ahank sloping downwards at an angle of 15 or 20 degrees, and at 
right-angles with the outer face-end of this shank was attached to 
it a stone wheel, running round the stone trough or channel filled 
with paddy. The peasants on this frontier smoke enormous oan« 
pipes at least fi?e feet long, the heary copper or iron bowl of whioh 
with the strong stem would make, if neceesary, a formidabln 
weapon of defence. We c r oe e ed another stream at Jan-chia Ch*ang, 
12 U from Hu-yang Ch'ang, our destination, where I had a good 



144 Up the Tang-Ue. 

opportanitj of elocelj eraaiiiniig tiie tkieshiag wiwh Tkt rmr 
had 0OW beeofii« a snifieieiitl j Urge oney thoa^ it had hsidlj yvl 
atUioed naTi^able proportioiia. Joat before reaching Hs-jaag^ «<• 
had to eroaa it upon a priaitiTe bridge muA. in ^of^e im these 
parte, eo&mting of a whole tree thrown aeroea the atreaa and 
lerelled on iU apper torfaee, ateadied bjr two pika, aerrimg aa 
piers, aod driven into the b^d of the river on the dowB>itreaa 
of the log. There waa no inn at Ha-jang, aad we had to 
the best of a very airj apartment, or rather stagie-nio«fad hoaaa, 
the greater part of which waa simplj open lath or wiekcr-worfc, 
through which the irrepressible bojs could peer to their hearta' 
ef/oteot. A frightful hullabaloo outside disturbed my already not 
Tery peaceful repose shortly after our instalUtioa here, and, on 
going outside, I found ray followers in altereation with the Tillagera 
about some petty matter of the interminable *cash.' One of my 
runners was just stripping for a fight, and, as I did not want a 
row, I thought it best to be on good terms with the Tillagera, ao 
I boxed his ears ostentatiously before the crowd, and sent him in. 

On leaving Hu-yang Chiang, we at first took the only obTiona 
road, the one running north to Li-chia Pa. But, as often happens 
in this country of contradictions, the large highway at a crosaing 
is a country path, and the insignificant path ia the main-road. 
We had therefore to turn back and cut across to the east, re-crosa- 
ing the river and pursuing our course to the south-east. At Pai- 
kwo ch*i, (1650), we commenced to mount again, until we gained a 
connecting ridge called Ngai-san-ya, (2220) ; our general course 
thence was east, sometimes north-east, sometimes south-east. 
Nearly all the houses here have a little shrine, the chief feature of 
which are the words: * Hfaven, Earth, Prince, Family, Tutor,' 
which fairly express in a string the general Chinese notion of hiao 
or *duty,' {jnelas). We took a snack at the house of a ticati-kung^ 
or * wizard,' amongst whose paraphernalia of office was a strange- 
looking trumpet like a buffalo's horn, but apparently made of 
leather. The material is hardly leather ; it looks more like a sort 
ol pupier macHy and I think 1 have seen teapots made of it. 
* Yellow,' that is ordinary cows, not water buffaloes, of all shapes 
and sizes are met with on this frontier, some with humps like the 
Hruhmin hull, some with long dewlaps^ some small like the 



Jfan-cliuan a?id the Kun^'t*an River, 145 

Ouenitey and Welsh cattle, some soraggry and bony ; and of all 
colours, white, blaok, red, brown, and skewbald. The yellow cow 
is used for hill-ploughing, whilst the water buffalo wallows in the 
paddy-fields up to his middle. Crows and magpies seem very fond 
of perching on the backs of these animals, with whom they seem to 
be on the best of terms. We mounted another 200 feet, and 
thought we could discern the city of Wu-ch'uan to the south-east : 
of two peasants within twenty yards of each other, one said we 
bad still 5 or 6 li to go, and the other said 30 : such is the dense 
and stolid stupidity of these bordermen. In some places along the 
road the wood of the ck'tng-kany was being turned into charcoal in 
a sort of subterranean furnace, chosen at points where one side 
surface of the ground is attainable. Large tracts are covered with 
this tree in its young stage, at which it is most usually out for 
fuel ; but, as I have said, it is not uncommon to see specimens at 
least 100 feet high, and almost as straight as a poplar. Descend- 
ing in various curves still eastwards to Shui t*ien-p'ing, (2160), 
the eighteen of us dined at the total expense of ten-pence, bat, as 
some higgle-haggling was going on as I rose to leave, I over- 
whelmed the landlady with grateful astonishment by ordering in 
a lordly way three half-pence more to be paid to her out of my own 
pocket. These hardworking coolies seem never to touch meat ; a 
little bean -curd, pickled cabbage, or pepper-sauce seems to be all 
they require to escort their rice down. After eating they drink 
the water in which the rice has been boiled. Tea is exceptional ; 
indeed I found it often difficult to get clean hot water wherewith 
to make my own tea, and very seldom found a teapot in a country 
place. 

At T'ou-men Kwan, (2120), a pass or ridge 10 li from Wa- 
ch'uan, the road from Li-cbia Pa, (70 /i), joins ours, and after 
winding about and crossing another small ridge, we come in sight 
of Wu ch'uan Uien to our north-east. The little rocky plain or 
valley at one end of which the town stands is not more than 
three or four miles round, and what cultivable land there is wo 
find occupied by the poppy ; but, as usual, in a backward state. 
The height of the town above the sea was found to be 1850 
feet in our ion. The population of the city is not more than 
2,a00, and the whole district is miserably poor, producing. 



14S Up the Yani'tse. 

besides a small quantity of opium, little else than maize and 
potatoes. From a distance the little city is not unpioturesque, 
as a newly-built K^au-ping or * Examination-hall ' and temple 
in one, painted a gaudy red, stands in a oonspiouous place 
amongst the houses. The land-tax of Wu-ch'uan is about Tls. 
1,200; eight hsiu U^ais or licentiates are annually allotted to 
the District, and its salt comes up the Fu Chou Eiyer either by 
way of £iang-k<ou or Sz-nan Fu. Formerly it all went to Sz-nan 
Fu, which is in direct water communication with the outer world ; 
but, since the abolition of the local extortions of salt consequent 
on the introduction of the new regulations, it has begun to come 
oyerland from Kiang-k*ou, seven days' journey from Wu-ch<uan. 
The Tsz-liu-ohing, (Fu-shun), pan-salt sells at Wu-ch<uan for 
68 or 70 cash the catty of IS ounces. From Wu-ch<uan Sz-nan 
can be reached in four days, and Siu-shan, by way of Sz-nan and 
Tin-shan, in seven or eight. The roads to Eung-t'an on the 
frontier, and to F'eng-shui Hien, two places about equidistant 
from Wu-ch*uan, both pass Cbdn-nan Ch*iao, a small market 
hamlet 60 li from the city. The P*dng-shui road then separates 
from the Eung-t'an road and passes Ltian-san-p<o, 30 U-, Cho-shui, 
60 l%\ Liu-ch4h Pa, 30 U\ Tien-shui Pa, 80 U\ on the way to 
P'dng-shui, 60 /i; or 300 li in all; but it must be remembered 
that, added to the difficulties of the road, the 1% are unconscionably 
long. The maps place P*dng-shui a great deal too far north of 
Eung-t'an and Wu-oh*uan. 

I had been told at Ch6ng-an, (though I did not believe it), 
tbat Eung-t'an could be reached in one day, or at most two days 
from Wu-ch*uan ; whereas four is the least by the ordinary route. 
But there is a shorter road by way of Pd-ts'un, Lung ch*iao, 
Lo-tung, Chiao Pa, £'e-tien Pa and Chwang-han, by which it 
is possible for an unencumbered man, walking from mom to 
eye, to reach Eung-t'an in two days. The short and the longer 
roads run together as far as T*ao-hu Pa, 40 or 46 li from Wn- 
oh'uan. 

For the first time for ten days we made a fair start when 
leaving Wu-oh*uan. It was neither raining nor threatening, the 
road was not muddy, and for the first mile or two it was broad, 
(i.e. six or seven feet), paved, and level. As we came out of the 



Jfan-ch'uan and the HCun^-t'an Itiver. 147 

east gate, a dilapidated strnotare crowning a ten-foot-high wall 
which would do no credit to an English farmer's outhouse, we 
felt quite exhilarated at the prospect Turning north immediately 
after leaving the city, we continue in this direction for five li^ 
when we turn west, the other road continuing to Ewan-ytlan-pa. 
All the hest land seemed to be taken up with opium, and where 
it waa not, it was because the necessary manure was an outlay 
beyond the farmer's means. 

The price of the local drug is about 140 cash the onnce. We 
mounted in a north-westerly direction until we gained a ridge 
which led down in the same direction to Siao-kwan-'rh, (1670). 
The birds were rejoicing with us at the change in the 
weather, and amongst others the notes of the Hwa-mei^ a sort 
of thrush, were conspicuously audible. After we had finished 
our early breakfast at Siao-kwan-'rh, we descended to the bed of 
the Rifer Tiao-lang-kang, which starts from Shui-t'ien-p'ing^ 
(where we had our cheap tenpenny dinner), and enters, or is said 
to enter, the Fu Chou River at or near Wang-chia T<o. Just 
before crossing this river by means of the stepping-stones which 
often serve as a bridge over Sz Ch*uan streams, we pasted a littla 
one-chambered temple on the road-side, opposite to which a hand- 
aome looking mule was standing whilst our cavalcade went by. 
I looked into the temple to see who the owner of such a respeetabla 
article was, and was struck by his fresh and intelligent ap- 
pearance. It turned out to be a French priest, of the courageous 
society of the Misnons Etranffires, who was on his way from 
Wang-chia T'o to Wu-ch'uan, his station. It was certainly most 
agreeable to meet a clean and sympathetic individual in the midst of 
■0 much stolidity and dirt, and we had a quarter of an hour's chat 
together: unfortunately we were travelling in diametrically 
oppoaite directions. I forgot to take the height of the river bed^ 
but I think it must have been at least 300 feet below 6iao-kwan« 
'rh, t.e. about 1,400 feet above the sea. Shortly after crossing 
it, we passed a village called Tau-kwan Ch'ang, where ooars« 
kangs, or mug water-cisterns, are made. At this village there 
waa an enormous specimen of the Sz-U-tn oak. As there are 
three Chinese characters, all of the same tone, for this sound, I 
cannot be at all sure of the tree. Mounting still north-north* 



14^ Up the Yang-tse. 

west, we met some well-dressed and strongly-armed soldiers con- 
veying two malefactors to Wu-ch*uan. The men were handcuffed, 
but were otherwise free, and were walking on in a leisurely 
manner before their guards. They wore neutral-coloured clothes, 
which are, according to one of my * guards,' who is himself both 
a gaol-bird and a gaoler, a sign that they have been guilty of 
robbery with violence, and are lost men. Ue says that they will 
be executed without reference to the Emperor as soon as the report 
of the trial has been sent to the Governor at £wei-yang. A 
great deal of such summary * justice' seems to be done in China, 
in the matter of robbery cases, which are put down with relentless 
severity. In many Provinces there are special regulations au- 
thorising departure from the usual rules in such matters. The 
gaol-bird added that persons guilty of wilful murder, murder and 
robbery, and land offences, (? agrarian outrages), were made to 
wear red clothes ; and that these four classes did not receive the 
benefit of general pardons, being guilty of the Sz-ngo, or ' four 
abominations.' It is not legal in China to secure a conviction 
without confession, and consequently the greatest injustice is . 
frequently perpetrated upon innocent though suspected persons 
with this object in view. On the other hand, hardened criminals 
give a great deal of trouble by fan-hung, or * retraeting their 
confession,' preferring a periodical application of torture, and a 
respite of idle prison life, to present death. 

Continuing to mount in the same direction for 420 feet, we 
descended to T'ao-hu Pa, where the country opens out a little, 
though, if it may not be called mountainous, it is still decidedly 
hilly. The ground is barren-looking and rocky ; but here, too, 
opium occupies the best pieces ; and, wherever the hills have 
been cleared of brushwood, the indefatigable peasant has ploughed 
a few yards of land between the rocks. A little further on we 
cross a small rivulet which comes from a place to the west called 
Chou-chia P'o, and runs eastward to Pe-ts^un, a spot already 
mentioned as the first station on the shorter road to Kung-t^an. 
We ourselves are following the banks of a considerable and very 
muddy stream, which comes from the direction of Chen-nan 
Ch*iao, in which we are going, and also runs past Pe-ts'un. None 
of these streams seem to be navigable about here. Tin-wan 



Js^an-cltuaii and the Kung-t*an River. I4O 

t'ting, where we leave the river, is 10 U from Chen-Dan, at 
which latter place we put up for the night. There was very 
little variation from what we had seen during the past week 
in the trees passed on the road. Besides paddy and the poppy the 
land was ohifily heing laid out for maize. We saw no wheat, and 
very few vegetables, but those were of a good quality, — chiefly 
beans and peas. I lind the Chinese have very regular names 
for rocks : I have already mentioned that aha-shih is exactly 
our word * sandstone.' Another common kind of rock (which I 
regret to say I cannot name) they call yu-kicang-shih^ or * oil- 
bright-rock.' Limestone is htcui-ahih^ exactly the same word 
as ours. 

A noticeable feature of Kwei Chou Province, when once you 
get fairly across the 8z Ch'uun frontier, is the shape of the 
bridges, which are no longer solidly built of stone, but are 
oovered-in wooden structures somewhat after the pattern of that 
at Lucerne, but of course much inferior in quality : nevertheless 
they afford an agreeable shade. We crossed a small stream by 
one of these bridges shortly after leaving Chen-nan Ch'iao, and 
took a course almost due north during the entire day, having 
on our left a range of savage- looking and precipitous hills 
perhsps 2,000 feet above our average level, or 3,000 feet above 
the lowest parts of the plain. A road runs north-west from 
Chdn-nan Ch*iao to P'ing Shan, across a conspicuous gap in this 
chain. We passed some exceedingly fine specimens of the P^- 
kwO'Shu or • white fruit tree,* {? Saiisburia adiantifolia or Oinko 
biloba)t and also of the Chin-p^i-shu {f Citrus tmcrocarpae). Be- 
fore commencing the ascent to Yen-teng, a village 20 U from 
Ch6n-nan Ch*iao, we passed a magnificent specimen of the Nan 
ihu (f Laurut tutchtianiensU), which threw its grateful shade 
over an immense area. The timber is often called teak ; and 
many will entertain a vivid recollection of the colossal pillars 
of this wood which support the mausoleum of the Ming Emperor 
Yung-lo, the finest of the Shih-san Ling, or Ming Tombs of 
Peking. Several huge logs have been within quite recent years 
transported at enormous cost to Peking in order to complete the 
tombs of the Emperor Hien Feng and T'ung Chih. The Sz 
Ch'uan boatmen usually build in or aflix one strong beam of 



150 Up the lan^-tse. 

this wood to the water line of their Urge eargo-^arrying jiiok% 
in order that it may resist the humps against the rockfli Thia 
heam is technically called the la. Cedars and firs were still 
to he seen in large numhers, hat they hy no means Booopolised 
the hill-sides, as on the Nan-ch*uan road : the Fkmg-Manff and 
the Shui-ch^ing-kang were quite as common. 

After crossing another ridge at the height of 2,600 feel 
ahoTe sea-level we descended into a Talley more harren than 
OTer. Even the wall of hills to our left assumed a more yellow 
and sterile appearance. Some of the crags stood oat in striking 
shapes, resemhling in some places the < Devil's Walk ' of^ the 
Bocky Mountains : yet, wherever the hrushwood had heen cleared 
from the hill-sides, there the yellow earth in the interstices 
hetween the rocks had heen turned up hy the plough ; and, 
wherever possible, had been sown with the poppy. The rooks 
lay upon each other in hori;<ontal strata like enormous pyramids : 
in fact wherever the hrushwood had been cut away sufficiently 
to enable one to get a comprehensive view of a mountain, this 
pjrramidical appearance became more striking. The Chinese said 
there was no sandstone nearer than Fa Chou, and that all the 
rooks in the vicinity were yu-kwang-thih. The amount of 
cultivable land was certainly not greater in proportion to the 
sterility than in the pass between Braemar and Ballater; yet 
the patient Chinese managed to raise both rice and opium out 
of it. The plough used by the Kwei Chou peasant is a still 
more primitive structure than that used in the north of China. 
It resembles the letter Y, slightly rounded instead of coming 
to a sharp point, with one shank shorter than the other. To the 
shorter shank, not more than three and a half feet long, is nailed 
the strong iron plough-share, which is slightly curved, and lies 
flat upon the ground like a trowel, about a foot long, by eight 
broad at its upper end. To the longer shank, about five feet 
long, is affixed a small movable cross-bar, six or eight inches 
long, and to this cross-bar the ox is tied hy two rope traces made 
fast to a wooden hames brought round his shoulders. The man 
walks behind at the side, grasping in one hand the handle affixed 
to the point of the Y, and works the plough both down and 
sidewaysi the centre of gravity being so placed that the ox pull- 



Xan-ch'xian and the Kung-t'an River. 161 

log itimlght ahead drags the share in a horizontal direction. 
With the other hand the man switches the animal. In paddy- 
land these ploughs dig up at least a foot of mud, but in dry lands 
not Bore than four or six inches. It is Tery rare to see a paddy- 
field or aa opium-bed more than 100 feet square : all is in small, 
not to say tiny patches. 

Beyond Yen-tdng, we encountered two lofty red poles sur- 
mounted by the usual stage or basket-like terrace, two thirds of 
the way up, such as one iuTariably sees opposite the Yamitu 
or public offices of China. I looked about in Tain for traces of 
a building to account for this strange apparition in a weird and 
sterile mountain region. It turned out that they had reference 
to the family grave-yard of a provincial graduate, about half-a- 
mile away up the mountain side; and the runners said that 
no one Im;1ow that rank, except perhaps a pa-kung, had the 
right to piece such poles opposite his family tomb. The whole 
country around had an exceedingly unkempt appearance, and 
the (horn hedges which (apparently in order to keep the cattle 
irom the opium) hemmed in the road were a great nuisance. The 
sun was very warm, and the thermometer marked over 70 in the 
shade : not a cloud was to be seen in the sky ; and, altogether, 
it was a great contrast to our experiences of the last ten days : the 
temperature in the sun was that of a hot English summer, but 
it was not too hot to walk without a sun-helmet. In this coun- 
try, where there is no place for anything, and nothing is ever in its 
place» I remarked a strange custom of building ouUids the house 
a small cupboard opening insiJe, in which are deposited the basons 
or cups of the family. In the poorer districts these bowls (about 
the siie of a small slop-bason) are the only articles of household 
crockery. 

As we were walking along, basking in the sun, we met four 
men carrying poles, at the ends of which were made fast strings of 
cash ; perhsps three or four dollars' worth a man. Some of our 
escort exchanged greetings with them, and remarked to each other 
that it * must have been a good case.' These cash represented the 
* squeezes ' which the runners had made out of the litigants in the 
case. I inquired how ft was worked ; and one of the police in- 
formed me that two police were told off to each warrant, armed 



152 Up the Yang'tse, 

with which they at once made for the defendant, and, haying 
taken stock of his means, proceeded to make terms with him. If 
he paid well, he was allowed to go to court hy himself, and the 
police ohtained remands and delays to salt his convenience, con- 
cocting suitable reports for the magistrate's ears : besides this, he 
was not forced to pay for their entertainment en route. If he did 
not pay well, he had to travel like a criminal with the runners, to 
eat in their presence, and to pay for their living, besides being put 
to all^sorts^of petty harassing inconveniences such as Chinese run- 
ners alune are capable of inventing. If he were really poor and 
could not pay, then he and the police had to live in the cheapest 
of inns,^on the shortest of commons, and it was ' a bad case.' I 
noticed in one place a proclamation warning the police against such 
exactions; habitually placed, it was alleged, upon not only defend- 
ants but also complainants and witnesses. Justice is thus too often 
practically sold to the highest bidder. From this the runners got 
to telling each other stories of cases they had had ; of the execu- 
tioner at Ch'eng-tu, who daren't go out after noon ; how a sum of 
600 cash was paid for every execution, whether decapitation, 
strangling, or quartering ; how quarterings were never permitted 
to take place at Ch'ung-k'ing on account of the crowds in the nar- 
row streets ; how confessions were extorted by means of a rack 
called a peng tsz, and silence was imposed by means of a wooden 
gag forced into the mouth and called a * beak.' They were good- 
natured fellows, these runners in my pay, well-fed and well- 
treated ; but from the stories they told it was evident that, under 
their unhappy system, they were capable of as cruel extor- 
tions as any one. The abuse of 'justice' is possibly not entirely 
unintentional on the part of the Chinese Government. I think it 
is the Abb^ Hue who quotes a decree of one Emperor (E*ang-hi 
or K'ien-lung) in which his Majesty says : * 1 wish my yamint to 
be dreaded by the people as much as possible, so that they may 
settle their disputes in a friendly way, and not worry the magis- 
tracy with their querulous disputes.' 

We passed by a strange combination of bridge and temple, 
built across two huge boulders which almost obstructed a small 
river : it was only approachable on one side, and, tumble-down 
aifuir though it was, yet it was not entirely unpicturesque : it was 



Jfanrdiuan and the Kung-t'an River. 153 

eTidently oonnected in 10016 way with the fingthui^ or 'lack' of 
the place. Hafing got to the end of the long nnbroken stretch of 
eandy -looking mountains to our left, we tamed north-east for fife 
or six miles, and now we could see that the range still continued in 
a northerly direction, but was broken up into separate mountains 
divided by passes or narrows. On the west side of these hills were 
the market towns of Mou-mSa and Tu or Chu-ohia Pa, The road 
to P*£ng-bhui branches off north, as we turn north-east, and, after 
several fatiguing ascents and descents, finally mount to the village 
of Fdn-shui Ta, at an altitude of 3,340. Ya is a local word signi- 
fying the luw-lying neck or pass between two hills, but not so low 
as to form a defile. The 70 U this day were terribly long, and it 
took us twelve good hours to accomplish them. 

Just above the Tillage, in a commanding position, are the 
remains of the stronghold of the rebel Wang, who, in the year 
1852, set up the standard of rebellion in this part of the country. 
Nothing is more striking in these remote districts of China than the 
entire absence of executive control. Military stations are few and 
far between, and are rather centres of gendarmerie or patrols than 
fighting men. Of officialdom there are only the magistrate and his 
secretaries and myrmidons in a district often as large as YorkshirOt 
Order is preserved in the villages by a system of Vwan^ or po$ie 
comitatui ; but, except when pressed by famine, er led on by lonM 
desperado, the Chinese do not seem inclined to quit their monoto- 
nous life of toil to become freebooters. Opium was the chief featura 
still ; no slopes seemed too steep, no ground too barren for th« 
poppy. I met a man carrying three cakes of the dmg from market. 
It was done up in a paper about the sise of Bath-bun and lookad 
like cobbler's wax : the man asked 20(1 cash an ounce for it. The 
Kwei Chou drug is chiefly used in Ss Ch'uan mixed op with the 
native article, which is not eo pungent Our coone to-day waa 
chiefly north-east, up and down, over hill and dale, through the 
same rocky and sterile country, surrounded by the same trees, eroee- 
ing the same ricketty bridges, and passing through the same alat- 
temly hamlets, with slouching clodhoppers bunging around, and 
stupid-lookiog women st work in the fields. All the women squeese 
their feet, but not in such an exaggerated way as in Bi Ch'uaa : ia 
fact, at times they look as if their feet are of natural sixe, and are 



154 Up the Yan^'tse. 

only swathed up in the oonyentional handage and pointed shoe for 
decency's sake. Eyeryone is miserably poor, though at the same time 
there are few or no beggars ; and everyone seems to have enough to 
eat. Shoes are a rarity, stockings quite exceptional. The unifersal 
foot covering is the straw sandal, made fast by a wisp brought round 
the heel, and steadied by another carried between the two largest 
toes. All the men wear short trousers, with the usual Sz Oh*uan 
bandage twisted a dozen times or so round the ancle and lower shin. 
We were no passing through part of the district of Yin-kiang, 
and saw a proclamation by the magistrate upon the subject of violent 
robberies which, he recited, had been very common. Outside one 
house was a strange notice by an elder brother, warning people not 
to give credit to his younger brother, as he had taken to gambling, 
would probably turn thief in time, and come to an evil end ; and 
disclaiming responsibility for him. Gho-shui Oh'ang on the P'dng- 
shui road is also approached from a point a few miles on this side 
of Fdn-shui Ya, where the former road branches off north, and we 
oontinue north-east through plantations of varnish trees. These 
trees are out once a year : the incisions in the bark are a sort of 
gash the size of a boy's hand, the earliest being made near the root, 
and then on upwards in one or two places each year. One incision 
will yield from half to a whole catty, which fetches 320 oash at 
Ch*ung-k4ng. I found it sometimes difficult to distinguish this 
tree from the mulberry and the Aleuritet, the later of which was 
bursting into flower everywhere. The jute palm was very common 
too. Of mulberries there are the ma sang, used only for fuel, and 
the tsz sanfff on which the hairless or tame silkworms are fed. The 
mountain worms only eat the silkworm oak, and, unlike the tame 
ones, are not themselves edible when the silk has been wound off 
them. In the district through which we are now passing the wild 
silk is not grown on account of the depredations of small birds. In 
the Tsun-i prefecture, whether it be that small birds are naturally 
rare, or have been killed off, they are not sufficiently numerous to 
interfere with the grubs on the trees. To-day we saw our first 
wild creatures in Ewei Chou in the shape of a couple of cock phea- 
sants. Beyond domestic animals, magpipes, egrets, crows, &c., we 
had seen no bird, beast, or fish since leaving Ch'ung-k4ng. A, 
sportsman would have a dull time of it here. We lunched at 



Jfau'cttuan and the Kunjl't'an River. 155 

T*ieD-ngao K'ou, (3,200), 20 li from Fen-shai Ya, and here had an 
opportunity of witneuing the sloTenly way ia which houses are 
huilt. Four fir poles, the two middle ones higher than the outer, 
are plaoed io a row ; and three similar rows are placed at distances 
of six or eight feet or more from each other, the spaces hetween 
representing the three future apartments. Poles or logs are then 
laid horizontally across the tops of these and cross-wise hetween 
them. There is no foundation ; one pole may rest on a stone, an- 
other on a rock or on the soil, and if the stone wants steadying, 
then a tile, an old hat or shoe, or whatever first comes handy is 
added. If it is to he a harn, a roof is added, and all is finished : 
if a house, the spaces hetween the poles and logs are filled in with 
lath and plaster, which, as the logs become grimy in time, causes the 
houses to resemble (at a distance) the snug little black and white 
cabins of Cheshire. If it is to be a temple, gaudy colours are sup- 
peradded, and a few rough carved ' josses ' of wood or clay are set up. 
Doors seldom fit. Light is generally admitted by the door only ; 
or perhaps a hole or a rough lattice serfes as a window to the inner 
apartment. There is no chimney, and the floor is that of nature. 
The Chinese seem to be unaware that beams will support least 
when laid flat, and most when on their narrowest ends, and usually 
lay them square : consequently these soon bend from their own 
weight, and houses stand at eyery imaginable angle. Anything 
more woful or comfortless it would be impossible to oonceife. And 
that is the best style of house. The inferior ones are a jnmblt of 
laths, stones, mats, wheels, mill-stones, old clothes, umbrellas, and 
refuse of all kinds. 

We go down again 760 feet to Sin-lung Ch'ang, which, like CTery 
other place wt have seen in Kwei Chou, is a tumble-down hamlet. 
Btill the poppy, wherever it will grow : and near here I noticed 
several flnt specimens of the iha-t^ang and cA'tii^-cA»u trees. Mao- 
t*ien K*ou is 46 li from Fdn-shui Ta, and after leaving this plaoe 
we mounted wearily up a gentle slope of rocky, barren hill-side for 
about three miles. The sun was shining pitilessly ; there was no 
shade, and I began to think that the wet would be preftrablt were 
it not for the difficulty of carrying the chairs in the slush. When 
we had gained the top of this hill, we looked down into some very 
fine and wild crag scenery. It was now more evident than ever 



156 Up the Tan^-fse. 

that our's was now only a branch road across the moantains, the 
main road being that to P'eng Shni from which we had separated 
the day before. We now turn east, and after some more weary 
alternate climbhig and descending to the north-east, finally find 
ourselTcs in a fatigued condition at Hoo-ping, (2,540), a Tillage 
perhaps a trifle superior to the average hamlets, and at present a 
military station of 130 men. On leaving Hou-p*ing the next day, 
we were informed that we should have to travel forty AT without 
meeting with rice, and consequently all of us made a very uncom- 
fortable meal before starting at five o'clock in the morning. For 
the first twenty-five H we travelled north-east and north through 
a silent, barren, and almost uninhabited country, where the only 
■triking objects were a few specimens of the nan mu^ distinguish- 
able from other large trees by their small leaves and nnmeroos 
coral-like branches. Turning south-east, we mounted 360 feet to 
a spot whence we could command a good view of the yellow-looking 
hills so characteristic of the northern part of Ewei Chon ; and then 
went down again 1050 feet and crossed as best we could a small 
stream not provided with a bridge of any sort. Though everything 
was strikingly silent and sombre, there were numerous evidences 
that human beings were not far off", for the poppy occupied the beat 
pieces of such land as could be wrested from the rocks, whilst the 
uninteresting paddy obtruded itself in all sorts of nooks and corners. 
A little further on we crossed, by one of the covered-in wooden 
bridges, a stream at 200 feet higher level than the last, and, after 
one or two more fatiguing ascents, and descents, were glad of the 
•belter of a pitch-dark room in the inn of the market town T'an-pa 
Chiang, (2,060), twenty-five /i from our destination "Wang-chia T*o. 
The sun had been shining fiercely all the morning, and on this 
occasion I felt grateful for what accommodation there was. The last 
part of our land journey was in a north-easterly direction, chiefly 
descent. Soon we caught sight of the K*uag T*an River, and passed 
through a small valley full of wheat ; then we noticed how much 
more advanced the vegetation was ; we passed the t*ung or Aleuri- 
ies trees in full bloom, and plantations of the Boehmeria nitea, with 
several large mung-Uz trees, all signs that we were approaching 
the more prosperous land of 8z Ch*uan, and in a few moro 
minutes we were in the inn of Wang-chia T*o, (lf205)y 30 H 



Jfan-ch!uan and tJie Kun^-t an Siver. 157 

below Kang-l'ao, the frontier town and eutrepdl of the salt 
trade. 

The sight of a genuine river, after so mnoh toil and discomfort 
amongst the monntains, was very cheery and refreshing. We were 
DOW nearly 1,600 feet lower than our highest point during the day; 
but from this point my observations of the heights of places became 
useless owing to my having re-set the barometer to suit a bwer 
level without having taken the precaution to note the exact point 
from which 1 moved the needle. 

The descent of the K^ien Kiang, or, as it is colloquially called^ 
the Kung-t*an River, or the Fu Chou River, (or, again, the Siao 
Ho, or Small River), is a most exciting piece of travel. For nearly 
the whole distance from Kung-t'an to Fu Chou it runs through a 
barren, rocky, and gloomy gorge, quite as impressive, I think, aa 
any on the Great River ; because the narrowness of the stream 
makes up for the more moderate height of the mountains, and 
leaves the same impression that would be made if both were 
doubled. I came down at what is called pHng «Atii, or moderate 
water, when the level of the river is about 20 feet higher than at 
its lowest, and 30 or 40 lower than at its highest. The usual 
breadth seemed to be about fifty yards, though in some cases it 
was narrower, and in many much wider. I should think that it 
must at all times be very deep, for during the whole paaaage I do 
not remember to have seen a single rock in mid-stream, or any 
place which looked as though there were sunken rooks near the 
surface. The river is simply a vast sluice through which the 
nuddy water tears along at a terrible pace. The average rate of 
the current cannot be less than ten knots an hour, even at moderate 
water, seeing that, though three days on the river, we were only 
in actual motion for twenty houra. Though in impresaivenesa the 
aoenery — which for the most part consists of perpendicular roeka 
700 to 1,000 feet high, with the sky between,— may not surpass 
the finest of the Tang-tsz Gorges, yet the rapids tf this river art 
very much more formidable. Falls of three and four feet are verj 
common, and I should say that in many cases we went over dx 
and even eight feet aheer fall ; but it is not easy to judge of this, 
aa, of course, rapidly running water does not fall perpendicnlarly^ 
and, nonoTtr, it was aeeesiary either to ait down or to hold fast 



158 Up the roMg-Ue, 



£#, u ftf as «p<part]ftxitT af ^Twftfiig t&sm gi«a» befejte we €9ald 



oanelTCiL IW zreftt CMajxr is 



ao Biieh aa tbe risk of darf^fag a^aiaat tbe practpctosa banks of tka 
manow atreaM, or gettia^ iiiT^lTid im vbiripootab I kaTa Bercr 
txperkncfd aa earthquake, bat ia deaecadiag tkeaa rapida I 
idt that peeoliar linkiiig acAaatioB wbiek aa caitkqoake ia aaid to 
prodoeeu Aaoiker danger, too, ariaea from tka Tioleat tkaapiag 
of tbe warea against the bottoai of tke boat, aa, diirea aloog by 
tko remoradeaa rapid, she tears throagh ratber tkaa oTcr tkeaa. 
Tlie worst rapid on tho whole rirer is that of Koag-t'aa itadf ; 
Imt this I did not see, aa I started frooi a paint ten milea below. 
Except at highest water, jonks eannot aseend the Kang-t'an at 
all, and, eren then, fiftj men and two linea are required to pnll 
up a jaak of 20 tona capacity. Janks ean, howcTer, descend the 
rapid, nnder the conduct of pilota, at all tioses; but, so far aa I 
eonld learn, cargo is nearly all transhipped at Kung>t'an, and 
hardly any junks paaa the rapid at alL Between Kung-t<an and 
Wang-chia T'o, the place from which I started, there are two 
rapids called the Ta-yen T<an and the Siao>yen T*an. The first 
rapid of importance below Wang^hia T'o ia the double one of 
P'ang T'an, which seemed to me to be a much more serious affair 
than any rapid on the Tang-tsz. Boats going up the river always 
traTel in fleets of nine, and the crews of the whole nine lend a 
band in dragging each boat up the rapids. And most extraordin- 
ary looking boats they are. They cost about 200 strings of cash 
apiece, with about Qve more for the masts, oars, and tackle. The 
stem is crooked, hence the name given to them (for they are all 
built on exactly the same model) of wai p^iku ch^uan. This crooked 
appearance is not at once observed on the port side, where the poop 
is highest, bat on the starboard side the boats look as if they have 
been stranded or ' bilged in ' some way or another. The sides of 
the junks are pretty straight from stem to stern, but the port side 
of the stern is curved upwards whilst the starboard side remains 
almost on a level with the bow. The port bow on the other hand 
is slightly lower than the starboard bow in order, I suppose, to 
'carry off' the curve increased (or reduced) at the stem in each 



Jfari'ch'uan and the Kun^-t'an River, 159 

oaae. Where the bottom of the stern begins to ourre upwards it 
does so at the same time sideways, the continuation of the keelson, 
or the spine of the boat, running up to the top of the stem on the 
port side. The inner side of the bottom of the boat at the stern 
thus faoes the observer who stands on the starboard side. The 
crooked branch of a tree is tied to the inner and upper corner of 
the stern, in such wise that one end, like half a hammer-head, 
lies horizontally over the poop; and the other end, like the 
handle of a hammer, supports the strain, being made fast 
to the exposed bottom. On the hammer-head reposes a Ti- 
tanic rudder, which is simply a tree between 70 and 80 feet 
long, the thick end of which is manoeuvred by the skipper frum 
a bridge built high up over the cabin, and the thin end of which 
rudder, usually broadened a little by splices so as to present a 
flatter face perpendicularly to the water, reaches far away behind. 
Sometimes these trees are fairly straight, at others twisted and 
curved like a huge serpent. Not seldom this stern sweep is made 
in two parts. The fulcrum works round a wooden pin running 
upwards through a slit, or between two splices. The power of thii 
machine must be tremendous, and one man works it from the 
bridge with the greatest ease. A ooir rope, made fast to the 
bridge ends, is brought twice loosely round the thick end of the 
rudder to prevent its running away sideways if the hold of it be 
accidentally let go. At the lower corner of the poop, whieh is six 
or eight feet lower than the other, and also not so far back, there 
is another stern sweep 45 feet long. The reason (which no 
Chinese gives in the same way) for this peculiar configuration 
evidently is in order that the two sweeps may work quite inde- 
pendently of each other, the one above the other and behind it, 
so that, if one is rendered powerless by a whirlpool, the other is 
available. The stern, too, presents no broad face to waves striking 
the junk, whether upwards or sideways ; and, in fact, this last 
is the usual explanation given by the Chinese. Beyond these two 
sweeps there is no rudder of any description; but a large oar 
worked by several men is occasionally used, whether aa a steering 
apparatus or a propeller I omitted to observe. This oar hangs in 
readiness over the starboard quarter. In addition to the above- 
d«soribed sweeps, there is a bow-sweep 45 or 50 feet long running 



160 Up tJie ran^-tse. 

orer the bow, and worked by two meiu The oaly meaat of pro- 
paUion down the river are four small oars, emeh worked (piked) 
by one man standing in the forward part of the junk. The okjeet 
evidently is to give steerage way, for I notieed that Ikey atopped 
working; when the earrent was slackest, and set too oMMt yiganmdj 
when we were rashing madly alung or taming eomos. The 
boat itself is only 80 feet long, and may be said to eonsisi of a 
hull and three huge rudders. Upward junks earry eooraona 
coils of rope, of which they frequently require four at a time, two 
at the stern and two at the bows. The crews seem a hardy, but a 
miserably poor set of men. For nine-tenths of the way up there 
is not footing for a civilized human being ; yet these men scramble 
half-naked and shoeless over the hardest rocks, tugging until their 
noses almost touch the ground, and advancing at the rate of about 
five miles a day. A month is the shortest time for a voyage 
upwards ; and forty days when the water is very high or very 
low. When the highest water is temporarily swollen by fresheta, 
they are often weeks waiting to get round a single oomer. 
Where even they cannot find a foothold, there is nothing for it 
but to pull the boat up inch by inch by means of hooked pikes 
dug into holes in the rocks. With the exception of a few small 
sampans which ply for short distances up and down, there seem 
to be no junks whatever on the river but the salt craft just de- 
scribed. Of these there are about three hundred, which would 
give an average of about three boats a day up and down, supposing 
that each junk made four trips in the year. These junks convey 
upwards of three yirif or about 20 tons of salt, for which they 
receive fifty strings of cash. Putting the cost of feeding the 
erew at one string a man a month, and allowing two more strings 
a man for wages and incidental expenses, a crew of ten men 
would thus consume thirty out of the fifty strings, leaving twenty 
as profit for the owner. The whole of the upward freighta would 
not amount to more than £12,000 a year, and the downward 
freights would not exceed half that amount. Thus, for £20,000 a 
year, a i>opulation of 3,000 boatmen is maintained ; a large part 
of Kwei Chou is supplied with salt ; and the riparian population 
is partly supported by what the boatmen buy. In case of wreck, 
the boatman loses his boat, and the Government its salt, the coat 



Xan-ch'tvan and the Kiing-t*an River. 161 

of which is distribated over the other consignmentfl, and added to 
their price. 

The next rapid we passed was Fa T^an-tsz, below which I 
observed some vast oaves, which looked as if a huge morsel of the 
mountain had fallen into or been eaten awaj by the river. I had 
noticed similar caves below the P'ang T'an, and I saw several more 
further on, nearly always just below the rapids. Up to this point 
the only living creatures we saw in the river were some stray wild 
ducks, which created as lively an interest amongst us as do gulls 
among the passengers at sea on the Pacitic Ooean. The general 
course of the river was north-west, but it was by no means a 
straight one. The gorge opens a little at the village of Niu-koh 
T'o, where a very awkward rapid called Shih Pan seethes round 
an exceedingly sharp comer. Here we met with a very unpleasant 
accident. Just as incense had been offered up to the gods, and we 
had launched into the foaming cataract, the forward sweep was 
wrenched in two by the sheer resistance of the waves. It had only 
been joined in the middle by six long nails at least a foot in length, 
and these were whipped out like so many tooth-picks. A dead 
silence ensued, and everyone looked as though a catastrophe wai 
imminent ; but the old man on the bridge never moved a muscle, 
and I suppose it was by the help of his tremendous stern sweep that 
we succeeded in fetching up about a mile below. Here we lost a 
couple of hours in splicing the sweep, the outer end of which had 
in some miraculous way kept with the boat. If it had been lost, it 
is dismal to retiect how many weary hours or even days we should 
have spent bargaining over a few shillings' worth of wood. The 
slovenly way in which this bow-sweep was worked was enough to 
make one's hair stand on end. The men who worked it stood oo a 
single plank which reposed, quite unguarded, upon two looee ooila 
of bamboo rope. These coils had to be steadied with lumps of fire- 
wood ; and, as the wood could not be removed, we had to fetch op 
twice in order to purchase forty caah worth of fuel : on the fint 
occasion our halt was in vain, for the covetous villagers wanted a 
half-penny and seven- tenths instead of a half-penny and two- fifths 
a bundle. Well, to return to the bow-sweep, the men ran to and 
fro upon this miserable plank, which wabbled about in the moat 
distressing way, and even threatened to disappear altogether, men 



162 Up tlie Yan^'tse. 

and all, when both of them happened to be at the same end. The 
rieke these people will ran ont of sheer sbiftlessness are absolatelj 
marrellons. On another oocasion the old man took the forward 
sweep for a time, and, during a lall in the current, sat upon 
the thicker end so as to lift the point out of the water. The 
next thing we saw and heard was a general * scatter;' he 
had fallen asleep and dropped off; the sweep had plunged into 
the water and alreadj turned the boat half round ; the plank 
had jumped up at one end, and the old man was clutching and 
sprawling all oTer the place. On jet another occasion, also in 
coming down a rapid, one of the junior boatmen who was tem- 
porarily in charge of the bridge, let go the end of the long 
sweep, with which he was playing. It swept Tiolently away, 
carrying the rope with it, and knocking him down : meanwhile 
the thin end was turning the boat in cTery direction but the 
right one, and it was as much as the other combined sweeps 
and oars could do to keep our head straight. 

A mile or two below Shih Pan is the doable rapid of Ttlan 
.T'an, a really awful cataract, in which I am sore no small boat 
oonld Utc : it nearly shook the bottom out of our junk, and we 
shipped scTcral seas. Below this are some more cstcs; half a 
Biile farther on the rapid of Ku-i-tsz, and below this, on the 
right bank, a stream issuing out oi an unearthly looking cayem. 
Then come the rapids of Liu-shui T*o and Hwei-shui T'o, aboTC 
the hamlet of Wan-ohiieh-tsz, where is another small opening 
in the gorge with a certain amount of cultivation. During this 
time the barometer had gradually and steadily gone np to the 
Talue of sixty feet, in view of which the fall in this river moat 
be considerable ; but at this moment it suddenly went down twelve 
feet, owing no doubt to some atmospheric change, so that I 
gave up attempting to ascertain the fall of the river by its aid. 
Without making any allowances for possible atmospheric varia- 
tions during the voyage, I found the difference in level between 
Wang-ohia T<o and Fu Chou to be abont 400 feet, which would 
represent a fall of about two feet in the mile. 

Below Wan-ohiieh-tsz are a couple of corners forming a 
regular Scylla and Charybdis. No sooner have yon with 
infinite pains rounded one than you are confronted by the other. 



.Yan-cliuan anti the Kung't*an River, 163 

liooking back after baTiog passed both, I saw that we were in 
a atraigbt line with the river above, whieh performs two torew* 
like oonvolutiuns round these dangerous projections. The advent 
of a descending boat in this gorge or string of gorges is like the 
passage of a parliamentary railway train at home. Small boats 
shoot out here and there with passengers returniog home from 
some fair, or bound for the lower river. It was with the greatest 
difficulty that we could keep them off by main force ; for it seems 
to be a sort of understood thing on this river that, no matter 
who charters the junk, it is common property. When I boarded 
it at Wang-chia T'o, I found that there were already 130 sacks 
of rice, and about 40 passeagers on board the junk allotted 
to me. 

Just before arriving at the rapid of Mo-tsai, we passed the 
■HHith of a small tributary river which runs from Oho-shni, (a 
place frequently mentioned above), but is not navigable. A 
notieeable object on the bank is a huge and solitary htean^'kok- 
•Am amid universal barrenness. The rapid of Mo-tsai is Tery 
alarming, and the horror of its passage is inereased by the savage 
aspect of the banks below, the ragged caverns, the Toleanie- 
looking hollows, and a general unearth liness. I shonld mentioB 
that the Kwei Ohoa boundary on the left bank, (as Knng-t'am 
it on the right), is a spot called Li-hwo-yen, opposite the vUIage 
of Nin-koh T'o where we came to grief. I am not prepared to 
say that no stream from the west joins the Kang-t*an river be- 
tween Wang-ohia T'o and Kung-t'an, because, it will be remen* 
beredy we crossed a email stream at the spot whero we met tlie 
French priest, which was alleged to join this river at or nenr 
Wang-ehia T'o. If it does so, it must be above Wang-ehia T'o. 
Aoeording to the maps a considerable river runs from Wa-eh*nnB 
in Kwei Choa to Kang-t'an. I saw nothing whatever of aaj 
aiieh river : at Wa-eh*aan thero is no running water at all. B«t| 
on reileoUon, it seems to me possible that at some periode of tlie 
year a small river might find its way along the level valley 
throngh the opening north which we had seen in the distance en 
we turned west. But in any case it is a mero brook, quite un* 
uaTignble, and has no practical connection with Wu-ch'nan. I 
waa nader the impreaaion that I could haTO got a boat at W«- 



J^4 Up the Yan^'tse. 

oh'uan for Kung-t'an, until I arrived at tliat city and looked in 
Tain for water in all directions. 

Above the town of P'eng-shui Hien la the rapid of Lan-oha 
T'o, having passed which place we fetched to tor the night, delays 
and accidents having only enabled us to perform 200 /i. Jast 
below the town, we could distinguish amongst the hills the wind- 
ing course of a tributary river from the north. It is navigable 
for 120 li, and runs down from the town of Yuh-shan Chen. 
There are three rapids to be passed. 

P'6Dg-shui is a somewhat picturesque city, built, as usual, 
high up out of the river on the right bank. It was dark when I 
walked through the town, so that I had not much opportunity 
of judging its importance; but it is evidently a place of con- 
siderable trade, and a centre of communication between the towns 
on the right bank of the Eung-t'an River. I regret that I was 
unable on this occasion to visit E4en-kiang, Tu-yang, and other 
towns, for I understand that the people are of a different type 
from that of the Ch'ung-k*ing Prefecture. They are stated to 
be more independent in their manner, much given to ferocious 
and bloody clan fights, (which the authorities are quite powerless 
to prevent), and less inhospitable to strangers than Chinese usually 
are. A very fine tea, called Eiang-k'ou tea, from the town of 
Eiang-k'ou lower down the river, is produced in this District, 
and enjoys a considerable reputation. I had a couple of pounds 
presented to me, and certainly found it a very superior article. 
The District also produces opium, but this year less is stated to 
have been planted than usual. The salt from the Fu-shun wells, 
which is conveyed by boat from Fu Chou for distribution through 
the Districts of E'ien-kiang, Tu-yang, &o., sells at P'eng-shui 
at from 48 to 50 cash the pound, being an advance of about 10 
cash on the Ch'ung-k^ing prices. It appears to have a somewhat 
serious rival in the granular salt of Tuh-shan, an inferior kind 
selling at P'6ng-shui for 30 cash, the suppression of which has 
recently been unsuccessfully attempted by the Provincial Govern- 
ment at the cost of grave popular riots. 

Just below the city of P'eng-shui is the rapid of Ewan-yiii 
Liang, a little lower down than which the river bends round a 
very difficult corner ; then comes another rapid, the name of which 



Xau'ch^iuui and the Kung-t*(ni liivdr. IGo 

I oroittid to aiicertain ; then the rapid of Hia-t'an-k'ou ; thea 
the rnpid of Tmg-ohiang N^^ai. A little further down is the 
Tillage of Kan-kwo Ch*an)f, below which is a double rnpid called 
Hia-pten, the lower of which is verj dangerous at lowest water, 
and was bad enough at this time. A fall of several feet was 
distinctly visible and sensible. The river now bends very decidedly 
Ui the went, and even to the south, its general course being south- 
west. We pa8Bfd several wrecks at an awkward shingly corner, and 
learnt that in one case six pisscngers had been drowned. Boats 
meeting each other on this river are scanned with as much mutual 
curiosity as steamers meeting each other on the broad ocean. The 
upward cargoes seemed to consist chiefly of sugar and paper, 
though salt is the chief staple. Rice seems to be a profitable cargo 
downwards, for Fu Chou plants Indian corn after the opium crop 
has been gathered, only a comparatively small area being suitable 
for paddy. Our rice came from Yiian-ho 8z in the Sz-nan prefec- 
ture, 120 li above Kung-t*an, where it sells for 1400 to 1500 cash 
the 100 catties ; at Fu Chou it tells for 700 to 800 cash the peck of 
35 cattief . Two pecks go to a bag or kin. The merchant paid 26 
strings freight for 130 AV/i, or 200 cash for IGO oattiea, and as be 
would sell at a profit of five cash the catty, he would net 600 cash 
a bag, or 78,030 cash on the whole transaction, supposing there 
were no other expenses. 

Shortly after this, we passed the frightful rapid of Sin or 
Ch'ing T*an, the worst at high water, (with the exception of Eang* 
t*an, and Yang-kwo Ch'i, the latter of which will be shortly 
described), on this river, as its namesake is the worst at low water 
on the Great River. The country now began to open ont a little, 
and innnmerable Vung-tsz trees in full bloom adorned the banks. 
We turned for a short distance due south, the banks still opening, 
their steep sides covered with the silkworm oak, (here ealtivated 
for fuel). We next passed through two seething torrents hardlj 
deserving the name of rapids, and then went through the doable 
rapid of Wu-kwo-tsx T*an. The country now opened oat con* 
siderably, and the banks became decidedly less gorge-like and 
more beautiful. For a few miles we could refresh onr eyes with 
the poppy in white flower, eottages, gardens, cabbages, and onltiva* 
tion generally ; until we came to Kiang K*ou on the left bank, 120 



]G6 Up the Yang'tae. 

ti from P'6ng-8hiii, to which district city it is suhjeot. I kepi s 
tery sharp look out for the liver which, as it will he reooUected, 
Ire had crossed \u the wet at Ti-yu T'anf^, a few miles from 
Chdng-an \n Kwei Chou, where it jiuns with the river from Mei- 
t'an Hien, and which we had been t«»ld joined the Fa Chou River 
at Kian^ K'ou ; and, sure enough, there it was, but according tn 
all accounts only navigable ft>r 100 //. At Kiang K*ou the river 
takes a very decided turn from south-west to north-west, and then 
north. Opposite the town there is at least half a mile of rapid and 
eeething ' chow-chow ' water, which goes by the name of Hon-tsz 
Pao-'rh ; and, after clearing this, yon emerge into a fine broad 
river almost as considerable as the Upper Yang-taz. The next 
place we passed was Tsung-tsun, a village on the right bank, 
opposite to which the pitching was so violent that I almost felt 
sea-sick. 

We now come to a market-town belonging to Fu Chou, which 
rejoices in the name of ' Hankow ;' just above this place is tha 
bad rapid of T'u-lou-tsz. Still continuing oar north -westerly 
oourse we enter another gorge, turn to the north, and pass the 
rapid of Ewan T'an. The country again opens a little, bat is 
barren in the extreme. I looked in vain for some of the ' Man-tsi 
Tang,* or aboriginal dwellings such as I had seen on the banks of 
the Ho Chou River. It is remarkable that during the whole of my 
journey from Ch<ung-k*ing, to Nan-ch*uan and thence through 
Ewei Chou, I saw no trace whatever of these interesting dwellings. 
Nor did I hear or see anything whatever of any indigenous tribe, 
though I understand that Miao-tsz are to be found a little farther 
east on the Ha Nan frontier. 

The general course of the river from Eiang E'ou to Wu-lang 
Hien is north-west. Wu-lung is 80 li from Eiang E'oa, and 180 
from Fu Chou, of which Department, though colloquially dignified 
with the name of hien, it is only a division, as Fu Chou itself is 
subject to the prefect of Ch*ung-k*ing. 

A small stream runs from a gorge behind the town of Wa- 
lung, (right bank), and enters the river across a mass of nibble. 
The rapid opposite the town ran at an incredible rate : we simply 
shot by at railway speed ; the fall, however, was not very per* 
oeptible. We now turn again west and enter the Yen-ehing 



Xan-cliiian and tite Kun^-t'an River. 167 

Ourgt, bhipping a considerable sea as we do so. This barren gorg« 
is ten miles long, and the furmidable rapid of Yang-kwo Ch*i 
is at its lower end. I had heard that it was usual to diseharga 
both oargo and passengers at this last-named place in the winter- 
time ; but I made no enquiries on board, as 1 found that anj 
indiscreet doubts expressed as to what ought to be dono gen- 
erally involred an extra nionpy payment for doing it; besides, 
i half hoped we should boldly shoot the rapid, though 1 
did not care to make myself responsible for the consequences. 
Turning a corner, we came in sight of the long snd straggling 
town of Yang-kwo Ch*i, on the left bank, snd were at once in- 
▼uWed in whirlpools and rapids. I braced myself up for a great 
erent, thinking that perhaps this was the rapid ; but, although a 
nasty piece of water, it turned out that this was nothing at all, 
and we shortly fetched up. The psssengers all got out, but still 1 
remsined imrooTsble. At last, getting impatient, I ventured to 
'draw' the imperturbable skipper by suggesting that we were 
fortunate in having arrived early enough to pass the rapid thai 
afternoon. * Yfs,* he said, ' as soon as 1 have engaged pilots.' It 
then appeared that the owner of the rice had insisted upon no less 
than seven local pilots being hired at the enormous expense of 800 
cash, — really a high rate, in these parts, —for a few minut«s' work. 
An old gentleman, who had often oonversed with mCi stepped 
forward and said ' at ' me : * Please explain to him, aa he it iimpley 
and does not understand onr language, that this rapid is no joke, 
and that he must get out and walk.* I think I should have risked 
it if our boat had not been so oareleeslj handled before, and had 
been more substantially equipped ; but, on the whole, I thought 
the disereeter course was to get out and walk. The erew and the 
owner of the bags of rice remained oo board, the rioe mao prebably 
thinking that death could add do horrors to the loee of his pro^ 
peHy. 

The rspid of Yang-kwo Ch'i is a roaring torrent about a mile 
long, which runs from eaat to west round a eemioireidar bend of 
rubble and shingle. There is nothing like it on the Tang-tat. 
It does not seem, looked at from the adjoining heights, to be so 
much a steady volume of water heading down in one sweeping 
current as a broken mass rushing over a very uneven surface ; but. 



168 Up the Yang-tse. 

from the rate at which it runs, I imagine it must be a combinttioa 
of both. Upward boats require forty men and four ropes, but of 
course they hug the bank. There is no way of closely examining 
the rapid without being in the boat, and consequently I can only 
give a Tery imperfect description of it. Having walked about a 
mile and a half to a point below a second formidable rapid called 
Hia-nien-liu-kwo-t8Z, I waited patiently to see our boat come 
down. Two families named Shih and Tung have the monopoly of 
shooting (fang) these two rapids; and, either by custom or law, no 
other persons are allowed to take boats down. I could not see the 
start, nor anything that took place at the upper side of the half 
moon, but a cry from the numerous observers soon attracted my 
attention to our junk which seemed to be almost literally flying 
round the corner. All sorts of sweeps and oars were plying with 
the utmost vigour, whilst the single pilot on the bridge could be 
discerned steadily manoeuvering the seventy-foot rudder. Sudden- 
ly the junk gave a sinkipg plunge, and her bows almost disap- 
peared from view : the spray shot up on both sides, and 8h« 
mounted and sank again, reeling from side to side. The worst 
was evidently over, for there is only one really great plunge, which 
at this time of the year is at its best ; but at low water is stated to 
be of terrible height. The junk once more disappeared beneath the 
hill on which I was standing, and was then deftly brought 
to between this rapid and the lower one, so that I had to trudge 
back half a mile. It turned out that the lower rapid, though a 
formidable affair, was not dangerous, and did not require the 
assistance of local pilots. When I got on board, I found the crew 
engaged in swabbing and bailing, so that I have no doubt the 
junk shipped many a good sea, as in these parts no swabbing is 
done for cleanliness sake. The pilots were of course squabbling 
about money, but on the whole they seemed pretty well satisfled. 

The rapid of Hia-nien-liu-kwo-tsz, which we passed early the 
next morning, resembles the Yeh T^an of the Tang-tsz; it ia 
simply a huge volume of water rushing through a narrow space : 
but the fall seemed to me much more considerable. It could not 
have been less than six feet. We now enter another short gorge, 
at the further end of which the hills suddenly change in oolour to 
the red look which distinguishes what Baron von Riohthofen calls 



Xafi'ch'uan and ihe Knng't*an River. 169 

the ' red batiD ' of Eastern Sz Ch'uan. All the way from KuDg- 
i*Aa the moaQtaioB had appeared to me to be igneoas rocks, with a 
BuperiooumbeDt stratum of about 200 or 300 feet of jellow sand- 
stooe. In man J places thej resembled the rocks of the Wa Shan 
gorge, and the stooe was full of steam-holes, and was apparently 
oi 4.'ilreme hartlness. 

Continuiog our course west-north-west, we passed the Terj 
picturesque town of P^-ma ou the lift bank, and, turning north, 
went down the very slanting rapid of the same name. We then 
entered another exceedingly fine gorge, with less precipitous banks, 
and numerous coal workings on both banks. We pass one more 
rapid, and for the first time see junks not on the crooked-stern pat- 
ttrn, which come this far up the river for coal. It is said that, 
when the Yang-tsze is at its highest, it drives the Kung-t'an river 
back as far as Yang-kwo Ch*i, up to which place the junks can go 
with the current. We now pass the rapids of Kou-lou Kwo and 
Pien-t*an, the latter a double one, the lower division of which is a 
■tartling fall ; and shoot past the village of Hia-pien T'an on the 
left bank. A little further down, a small stream, running from 
Ya-tsz T*ang to the west, and navigable by sampans for 30 /i, joins 
our river. We turn north -north -east, pass more eoal workings on 
the precipitous mountain sides, descend the rapid of Hlang-tsi 
T*ao, and oome upon a fine open river at Li-sz-taz, opposite to 
which it is for some distance quite as broad as the Upper Yang- 
IftM. Here we passed several upward junks painfully progressing 
with three tow-lines out. Hitherto, although we had eeen namer- 
t>us fleets of nine at anchor, we had never met more than one whole 
fleet in motion. 

The river turns north-west again at Ch*^n-obia Taui, with 
P6-t*ang CVi opposite, and about here, as the warm san shone 
down, the ooantry looked really lovely, with its (comparatively) 
gently -sloping banks, covered with the white poppy, tha eream- 
oolonrad AieurUe$, the golden rape, the feathery baabooi and the 
ligbi-greas silk-worm oak. Taming more west, we paaa over iha 
two rapida of 8hui-pa Ngai, and enter the piettireaqaa Parrot 
Oorga, (Bn-ko Hia), on the bit bank, naar the entraooa to whioh 
it a remarkable rooky baain whiah reodves a small waterfall, and 
the water in which appears to be lower than the river level. The 



170 Up the Yan^'tse, 

peaoh-trees on the high slopes hftTe cast their iiowers, and are now 
well on in leaf. Turning again more north, we emerge from the 
gorge at Pia (pe) Ngai, and now go a little tu the eastward. The 
country is most peaceful looking and beautiful, the very picture of 
agricultural prosperity. One more turn to the north, find then 
to the north-west, and we come suddenly upon Fu Chou on the 
right bank of the Yang-tsze and the left bank of the Kung-t'ao 
Kiver ; but the latter is wild to the very end, and we roust elear 
the Chi-tsz T*an— the last rapid — before coming to anchor. 

Fu Chou, like Mu-tung, is at the apex of a bend in the Yang- 
tsze, which receives the Kung-t'an River from the south, and runs 
north-east towards the sea. It is the capital of an extremely 
populous Department, containing it is said 3,000,000 souls, OMistly 
poor and engaged in the poppy cultivation. Lake all 6z Ch^uan 
towns, the Department city is comparatively small, the population 
not exceeding, apparently, 30,000 at the outside. As usual, yoa 
must be carried up long tiights of steps before you are well into 
the town, which contains at least one good long street, with shops 
little inferior to those of Ch^ung-k^ng ; perhaps on a par with 
those of iShanghai Hien. All the rest of the town is mean, and, of 
course, dirty. Fu Chou is famous for the liqueur called lu chiu^ 
already described. Its trade is insignificant, beyond its greal 
opium business, which, including the surrounding districts, amounts 
to Tls. 2,0J0,OC»0 a year. It is the chief market in Sz Ch'uan for 
the opium of the Province. The wai-pH-ku boats from the Kung- 
t'an River halt here, and rarely make their appearance on the 
Great River. Numerous long salt Junks from the wells above 
Ch'ung-k4ng are at anchor opposite the town, but the greater 
part of them anchor at Li-tsz Yiian, about three miles higher up, 
in order to prevent peculation. At this place the Governor- 
General has just built some very large, handsome, and airy sail 
warehouses, which have almost the appearance of moated for- 
tresses. The main part of the salt brought down is intended to 
be stored here, in order to save the time of the junks. As the 
Government receives applications from the Fu Chou distributors, 
the salt is consigned to the city, or transhipped into the crooked- 
sterned boats for Kiang-k'on, (thence overland into Ewei Chou), 
P'eng-shui, and Eung-t'an. 



Xan-cliH^n and the Kunj^-t'an River. 171 

There is little to be said of the overland journey to Ch'ang- 
lr*inf( excf'pt that, at this time of the jear (Kpring), it is one 
almoftt unbroken mass of poppj fvvr the first fifty miles. The 
peo]>le had already lanced the capsules, and I was just in time 
to see them collectinf^ the juice. Further on towards Ch'ang- 
k'infc, the poppy was later, and not yet lanced : in some placet 
not even in flower. The lancinj^ is done with a four-bladed 
copper knife, in appearance somethinf^ iHftween a cat*s paw and a 
curry-comb. If the capsule is cut in the early morning, the juice 
is scraped ofi* in the afternoon ; and, if lanced in the evening, then 
scraped off the next morning. In this state it sells for from 70 to 
90 cash the ounce. After b<ing aired, * sweated,* and allowed to 
settle, it is reduced by one half in weight, but increases two-fold 
its value ; and it is in this condition that it is sold to the trade, 
usually in saucers, but often packed to suit the taste of eaeh 
centre of demand. That part of the Department which is on the 
other side, the left bank, of the Great River, also produces a 
great deal of opium, especially the market-towns which cluster 
round the Sub. department of Ho-} ii P*ing. 

We kept pretty near the bank of the River as far at Lio 
Bhih, where there has been just completed the finest bridge I 
have evtr seen in China. It has cost the inconceivable sum of 
Tls. 260,000, or nearly £80,000 sterlinf?, contributions having 
been sent from all parts of the Province. The small stream which, 
it will be recollected, we crossed on approaching Nan-ch'uao raoa 
under this bridge. I should think that the length of this strue- 
ture could not be less than 20() yards, and the breadth than 80 
feet. The griffins, dragons, and other sculpturings which adorn 
it would not disgrace the museum of Naples, and the bridga 
itself would oertainly do credit to the Seine at Notre Dame de 
Paris. It consists of three arches, is perfectly level, it built en* 
tirely of granite, and presents no apparent engineering or arobitto« 
tural defect. It certainly speaks well for the public spirit of 8t 
Ch'uan that the people are willing to sacrifice such a turn for 
beauty*s sake alone, — for the bridge (unless, perhaps, during the 
summer floods) is quite an unnecessary piece of workmanship. It 
also confirms what I have already suggested, that the prodnoe of 
the enormous crops, which lends no look of prosperity to the 



17'i Up iius V^sM^Hmt- 








•I vibki » n^ w jnd ivr a mis : tftfj hrt cs^zmj •■ 
m4 4riw. 

lis l>k;li, tiktflj 2f frMi whoA a the auki^t«v« «f Clzv-u-n^ 
Y; whtr* wt Mrrirtd ia aa exkasKUsd atate at aiektiBiL TW 
inA fitrt 4rf dmr ymtwtj bad l«t« tctj wH aad ilatkr, aW tW 
w^tfm4L werj bot, to that tbe tbirt j ailca anie was mtl a bad daj'a 
w<^fc. Ihiriof tba aif bt I wac robbed of wae •aef al aad eip*Miia 
Ittr^eioTfrtd ekithea, 

Oa tbeae bigbUads there vat aiieb leas apiaa, thm^ itUl 
tbe IW'i;^ was tbe auiia feature of tbe laadaeape. Maiae aad 
btt«k'Wbeat were being aowo at aotnaa cropa, aad eaeasbeta 
trabepUbU4. Tbe aezt day's march wmt exeecdiaglj ardaoaa; 
and beeidea being of anasnal length, — oTer 100 /i, or aearlj 40 
Utiittt, — waa etpc^eiallj fatifi^uiog to me on aeeonnt of the baraing 
•un, end tbe elTeett of the com pa retire sleepleianett of the pre- 
eediog night. The rati and vermin had disturbed me more 
than once ; then I found people were peeping at me through 
the window, from the roof, through tbe crerieea, and to on ; — 
pOMiblj the thief was amongst them, taking ttoek of mj effects ; 
and, ftnallj, the robber ronsed me up twice, besides waking me 
permanentlj at half-past three in the morning to take steps for 
the reoo?erj of mj property. I walked the whole of the distance, 
with the exception of half a mile or so after breakfast, and con- 
sumed quart after quart of boiling tea, — the only liquid which 
it is safe to drink in this comfortless land. We sighted the 
Great Kirer at Yang-la K'ou, from which place we had to descend 
once more, and then mount another weary tboasand feet or so 



Xan-r}/Nafi and the Kun^-i\tn River. 17S 

to a eo/, from whence we ooiild dtstinguish our old friend Mu- 
tiing, five mill 8 away. It was rery cheering to aee soraethiog 
we had leen b4;fore, and everybody's spirits rose as much as it 
was pnsKible to do, under so much fatigue, and after so many 
privations. I occupied my old nN)m and my old bed at the same 
inn ; ond, in looking for a convenient place whereon to drop some 
candle-fKP'nse whereon to make the candle stick fast, discovered 
the identical grease I had left on the bedstead a month before, 
and which, with its increment, will probably remain there for 
many a long year to come. 

And now we commenced our last dar's march, another toil, 
some thirty miles. It seemed quite homely to meet people com- 
ing from Ch*ung-k*ing with loads of produce of all descriptions. 
The villages we passed, filthy though they were from an English 
point of view, were immeasurably superior in size and substance 
to the ricketty hamlets of Kwei Chou and the frontier territory. 
The novelties of the day were a species of wild raspberry, called 
the hwang p*fio^ and a variety of wheat called ki-kung mi or 
* thunder-god wheat,* quite different in appearance from the or- 
dinary spiked variety. The rape had lost its tlower, and taken the 
form of a small drooping bean, fit Ids of which had the waving 
appearance of a sea. Peas and beans were nearly ripe. After a 
tiffin in an inn, so filthy that 1 was obliged to walk from coach to 
couch in order to avoid touching either floor or table, I indulged 
in an hour's ride in my chair, the first long ride for three weeks. 

The last five miles up the hill was the most punishing part of 
all our journey. On arrival at the summit, oor party waa quite 
demoralized : no one spoke ; everyone lay or sprawled about in a 
limp and exhausted attitude, and gulped down bowl after bowl of 
tea. When they are very fatigued I notice that Chioaae porten 
prefer a mixture of coarse brown sugar and tepid water to boiling 
tea« And now we eroased the ridge and came in Tiew of the pic- 
turesque Cb*ung-k*ing, far away down below, with the winding 
Tang-taze, and the once elear but now muddy Ho Chou Rtrer em- 
bracing it on three aidea. The excitement caused by the imminent 
approach of home comforts cauaed me to omit to take the height of 
the paaa opposite the town, and to notice the difference in the level of 
the River, which had much swollen since my departure a month ago. 



174 Up'the Tang'tse. 

UP THE KIA-LING RIVER. 

The Kia-ling, locally called the Siaollo, or 'Small River,' enters 
the Tang-tfiz between the town of Ch'ung-k'in^ Fa on its right 
bank and that of Eiang-pdn T4ng on its left, the latter being 
a walled city carved out in the year 1731 from the District of 
Pa: Pa Hien being, in fact, Ch'ung-k'ing, the Prefectural and 
the District Capitals lying within the same city walls. At low 
water nothing coald be greater than the contrast between the 
limpid waters of the Little River and the yellow mixture of the 
Kiang,* or Ta Ho. Both towns are, at the winter season of the 
year, perched high up on rocky eminences and (always at a dis- 
tance) present a most picturesque appearance. Enchantment va- 
nishes with propinquity, for, of all the receptacles of ungodly 
smells, Ch'ung-k4ng probably bears the palm for intensity and 
diversity. Casting a longing eye on the enticing waters of the 
Little River as I pursued my solitary walk among the dung- 
hills of Ch'ung-k'ing, I determined to plunge myself into them 
without delay, and that right frequently. With this object in 
view, therefore, (though I will not deny that I had other and 
more serious motives), I hired a small kwa-tsz ch*uan or compart- 
mented travelling boat, and started up the river for a week or 
two's cruise, exchanging personal cleanliness and vile smells for 
personal slovenliness and fresh air. I visited the town of Eiang- 
p^h before starting up the river, but found nothing whatever of 
new interest in the place, except perhaps an odour or two of more 
subtle malignity than those on the other side. Neither Blakiston 
nor QUI appears to have quite succeeded in establishing the proper 
identity of Eiang-poh T4ng, which is usually marked on the 
maps as Li-min-foo. This is the title of tH»g or Sub-prefect, 
and, when people say that such and such a village is ' under 
the Li-miu,' they do not mean under the city of Li-min (which 
does not exist), but under the Sub-prefect of £iang-peh. Several 
examples are given in Mayers' Chinese Government (N'o. 282) of 
similar special titles adopted by or conferred on certain sub- 
prefects. 

About a mile up the river, on. the right bank, is a huge 

* From hero to Ch'^ng-tu it is properly styled the Min Kiang. 



176 Up the lang'tse* 

far aa its junoiion with the E*U Ho, a boat appeared the moel 
desirable mode of oonvejanoei especially as there were Diimeruiia 
objtots of interest to be seen on the river. The first of these is 
00 the left bank, about seven miles from Ch'ung-k*ing, after 
the river has taken two tarns, and hidden from view bj the hills 
on the right bank of the Great River. Mut a hundred yards froid 
the shore, and perhaps a hundred feet frood the winter level of 
the water, are to be seen four or five perfectly square and regalar 
holes carved out of the solid ruck. These are locally called Man- 
tsz Tung, and are stated to be the dwellings formerly oooupied 
by the aboriginal inhabitants, ^ihilst yet Sz Ch'uau was covered 
with impenetrable forests.* But the remarkable thing is that 
savages, who could not cut down trees to build themselves a hut 
withal, should have been able to carve out with such paUenee 
these dwellings in the rook. They are all on the same model, 
and the doors have the appearance of square tubes telescoped one 
within the other, each tube receding inwards six or eight inches 
from the next outer, and the withinmost aperture being about 
four feet square. One or two of them are adorned round the 
mouth with rough guilloche and trellis patterns, figures of naked 
men, deer, cocks, &c., carved into the rock, and, rough though 
they be, certainly have a non-Chinese appearance. A fragment 
of broken rock, lying near the mouth of one of the caves, has 
carved upon it what looks like a quipUf or perhaps an English 
genealogical tree. It is possible that blocks of pyramid-shspt^d 
stone may have fitted into these oaves in the guise of doors ; and 
most impregnable strongholds they would be, (for they are flush 
with the rock, and from five to ten feet higher than the nearest 
foothold), if only it were explained how the inmates obtained 
food and air during a siege. The chamber within was in 
no case more than eight feet square, and about six or seven fe«t 
high, the inner face of the roof being concave, and a sort of gut- 
ter being chiselled round the fioor. A mile or two outside the 
T*ung-yiian Gate of Ch'ung-k'ing there are numerous other aimi- 
lar caves, hollowed out of the ground rocks. Some of them are 

* The sayiug hu ghuo pa tao^ or * gibberish !', is said by some to mean 
Ihc $huo, or 'Ulk,' of the hu, or • TarUrB,' and the tao, or • upeech ' of 
the savsgos of P«, or Ch'ang-k'iug. 



the savsgos of P^y or Ch'uog-k'iug 



K^ia-lin^ River. 177 

occnpied by beggars, and otbera have been utilised u tombs or 
Tanlts, and bricked up. These are mnoh more extensive within 
than the oaves of the Little River, but the square and telesoopio 
doors were in all cases carved out on the same pattern. The stone 
invariably bears the marks of a chisel or oelt, like flagstones which 
have been * roughed ' for the convenience of pedestrians ; but the 
marks are hardly incisive enough to have been made with an iroa 
ohisel. In some cases the Ch'ung-k*ing caves have recesses liko 
bed-places at each side, and holes in the wall, for lamps perhape, 
with occasionally a trough-like or stove-like hollow near the door* 
In one or two instanoes neat patterns are carved on the oeiling or 
inner roof; and, altogether, an amount of labour and care seems 
to have been spent upon them altogether incommensurate with th« 
bumble office of lodging a dirty savage and his squaw. 

A considerable trsfiic is done on the Kia-ling River, the mott 
important downward being the official salt cargoes from T'ong- 
oh*uan Fu in the north of the Province. The places in that 
Prefecture which produce salt in large quantities are Bhd-hnog 
Hien, P*^Dg.ch*i Hien, T*ai-ho Cb^n, and San-tu K'i. There is 
not so much obtained from these wells as from the oelebratsd pits 
of Fu-shun and K*ien-wei, the borings at which have been so often 
described by European travellers ; but still the trade is Tory vssti 
and is now entirely in the bands of the Provincial Qovemmsnti 
which has established a system of * official conveyance and private 
distribution * ss yet hsrdly in working order. I was surprised nl 
the length of some of the downward junks, which were oertainlj 
150 feet from stem to stern. I was told that many of thsm etr* 
ried from 120,000 to 1^0,000 oattiea of salt, which would be absnl 
80 tons, bttbsequently 1 saw a number of them being built at Ho* 
chou, and was informed that the cost was about Tls. 200 for Um 
hull, or Tls. 300 with apparatus oomplete. They are buili in 
twenty or thirty oompartmenta, each separated by a bulk-hssd | 
nndy when pretty deeply laden, do not draw mors than at ih« 
utmost four or Eve feet ; for their bottoms are psrfoetly flat, that 
is to any as regards the oontaet with the water, as they alope gently 
from stem to stem very mueh in the manner of a BrasU-nut. 
8nils are unknown on this river, ezoept in the ease of the smallsst 
junks. The large junks have no use whatever for the mast but to 



178 Up the Yang'Ue. 

•lip rings up and down it for the tiwlioe. The reason wbj satlc 
are not used to ascend the rirer probably is that its tortcous e>ar9e 
would make it iroposfiible to run befure the wind for more than fire 
minute at a time. 

So far as I could make ont, the chief upward cargoes oon- 
•isted of Vung oil, which rather surprised me, as the t'^ung tree 
grows almost everrwhere in ^z Ch'uan. The oil was packed in 
bamboo hampers of ISO to 2j0 catties apiece, and I was told that 
the price was something over 5000 cash fur \\jO catties ; say two- 
pence a pound. 

The T*ung-t$z Shu, or Wu-Vung^ is usuallj described as the 
El<Bococca term'cia or verrucosa ; but, according to the highest 
botanical authority, is noore eurrectly termed AleuiiUa vernicia, 
Hassk. This tree flowers in the month of March or April, and 
produces the fruit a month later. It is plucked about September 
or October, and allowed to rot in heaps covered over with grass, 
in order that the kernel may be disengaged from the shell or 
husk. The T^ung-sku grows in hilly places all over the Province 
of 8z Ch'uan ; but half of the whole production is stated to oome 
from the eastern portion, three-tentha coming from the southern 
districts, and one-tenth from each of the western and nofthera 
parts. Of the half total produce of the eastern portion, one-fiftb 
comes from Fu-chou, P'^ng-shui, and the Eung-t*an River; one- 
fifth from E4-kiang and the border of Kwei Chou Province;* 
one-fifth from Liang-shan, Tien-kiang, Wan Hien, and Chung 
Chow ; and the remainder from the other districts. The nuts are 
distinguished into three varieties, the yellow, drab (//mi, or hemp- 
coloured), and white ; the last affording the greatest quantity of 
oil. The price of the white variety is about nine hundred 
oash the (double) tau or gallon, being one-tenth of a (double) 
picul. The two other varieties are about two or three per cent, 
cheaper. There is no market for the nuts at Ch*ung-k4ng, the 
crushing being invariably done locally ; nor is there any tax upon 
them in tranaitu. The husks and, in places where there is n» 
crushing industry, the nuts themselves, are burnt for potash, the 
other sorts of potash in use being obtained from pulse, and from 

* Not to bo confused with Kwei Chou (Department). 



Kia-Ung Eiver. 179 

grata, the beat grata beiog the ma-pien i8*ao, {f Vetbeita officinalii, 
Udd.). The cake, after the ezpreesion of the oil, is Ased exten- 
lively at manure, at are also the husks, where not utilised for 
obtaining potash. The oil manufacture of Sz Ch*uan is not so 
cxtenftive as that of T'ung-jen Fa in Kwei Chou Province, but still 
it is very considerable, the neighbourhood of Fu-chou monopolizing 
the greater part, Wan Hien and Chung Chou coming next. The 
value of the oil at the place of manufacture is usually about 4500 
cash the ordinary picul. The cake manure is chiefly esteemed ia 
the cultivation of the best tobaccos in the north parts of Sz Ch'uan. 
It is sold, by the trade-scale of 105 catties to the picul, at the rat« 
of about five roace, or TOO cash. There are two varieties known at 
the autumn (cA*tt/) and tire {huro) cake, the latter containing leaf 
oil and being a trifle cheaper than the former. The chief export 
of oil to Hankow seems to be from T'ung-jen in Kwei Chou, by 
way of Ch*ang-te, and is mostly in the hands of Kiang 8i men. 
The country people take it to the T'ungjdn market in loads (lUao) 
of two wicker bsfikets (/on) a load, each basketful weighing 80 cat- 
ties. At the Hankow market, the seller has to pay 2} oandareena 
a basket ' hong' charges; and the custom of the trade is three or 
four months' credit, (mai ku:et\) or discount fur cash. Two canda- 
reens and a half ot taxes are collected on every basket at each of 
T'ung-j6n, Ch'ang-te, and Hankow. The T'ung-j6n trade amoanta 
to over Tls. 400,000 a year, and that of Fu-chou to half as much 
again. The Sz Ch'uan baskets are of two sizes, one containing 280 
catties, and the other 180. The export duty is two mace four can- 
dareens on each large basket, and KK) cash extra if it paaaet 
Ch'ung-k'ing on its way down. The freight to Hankow averages 
about 1,000 cash for large baskets, and 700 for small, the telling 
price at Hankow being about Tls. 5 the picul. All oil entering the 
walls of Ch'ung-k'ing has to pay to the oil-market a tax of two 
mace four candareens. The business is tranttcted entirely throogh 
brokert, who receive from the seller 1,000 cash commission on 
every Tls. 100. The chief uses of the l^unt/ oil are to varnish boata, 
feed lamps, varnish houses and furniture, make umbrellas and 
water-proof cloth, and manufacture the best ink. This is done bj 
obtaining the soot resulting from the combustion of lamp-wiok 
grass, [ting-tin ih*ao ? Cyj'ttnf r/ijformin, l.inn.), and t'untj oil in a 



180 Up the Yan^-^ge. 

fOwQ famoee. Of late jeara it haa alao been oacd for faiMniy 
lortf^ forming with tripartite earth {aan^ho^Vm) 'of liae. waaL, mi 
and elay, a mateiial almost as toiigfa aa granite. In the IHstrist <rf 
ITan eh'oan tbere are laid to be two sab-apeeies ealled the ttng (or 
irj or ? eane) t^ung, and the «&-/» (or priekly ?) thsmg^^ tha latter a 
tmall tree, the fmit of which has only two * figs.' The oth^r kinds 
hate foar, six and ei(;ht *■ fign/ or lobes, eaeh eontainni^ two 
kernels. The nuts are also distinguished into the round (r^o tiw/, 
i.e, 'peach' t^uru;), and dat (ahih^pimj, or ' persmmoa caka'X 
The flower of the white not is white, that of the jellow nnt nd^ 
and that of the mooae-eoloared (ma) speckled (^s<i)w 

The emshing of the t*u7i(; oil is done in the foHowing waj. 
The kernels, having been removed from the hnsks^ are drst gnmnd im 
a stone mill, {nien\ and then steamed in a wooden tnb, {tsemf)y aatfl 
they become toft. They are in this condition placed within 24 iroa 
hoops, abont IS inches in diameter and half an inch in thiekam^ 
and separated from each other by abont one ineh, the whole re- 
sembling a hnge lerew or sansage. This is then plaeed honaos- 
tally in a sort of hollow horse or strong wooden frame ealled a ekm, 
and an arrangement of wooden blocks and wedges is laid aeffOM 
one end of the sansage, the other resting against the inner ead 
of the horse. Two of the wedges are very mneh longer aad 
itronger than the other blocks, and are strongly capped with iron 
at the ends facing the operator. One, thick at the inner and 
Tery thin at the oater end, is driven in so as to compress the eake ; 
whilst the other, thick at the onter and thinner at the capped 
end, is nsed to release the cake when ready. A battering ram, 
strongly capped with iron, swings from a beam of the building mn- 
ning at right angles to the direction of the ram, and parallel to 
the direction of the horse with its sansage-like contents. A man 
swings the ram, {chicang kan), twice or thrice backwards and 
forwards, and iinally brings down its heavy cap with great force 
on to the iron head of the wedge, which, advancing, of course 
tightens the blocks and squeezes the pulpy mass. The oil drops 
down into a sort of gutter, (chien), running round a basin or 
cistern, and is conveyed away by bamboos to other receptacles. 
Twelve cakes, each about 1 ^ inches in thickness, and weighing 
each about 14 catties^ are taken from the 24 iron hoops. Before 



Kia-ling River. 181 

use as manure, these oakes are once more triturated. The local 
retail trade in the Vung oil is conducted at the rate of twenty 
ounces to the pound. Eape oil is manufactured in the same way 
as the oil above described. 

The river takes another bend at the Caves ; and, three miles 
further up, you come to Sha-p4ng Pa, where the Missions Etrati' 
f/irrs have their sanatorium. This is a vast mansion, covering 
perhaps two acres of land, which was built not many years ago 
by a wealthy merchant named Chang ; but, becoming haunted 
by devils, it proved both uninhabitable and unsaleable, —that is, 
from a Chinese point of view. It must have cost Sir Chang a 
matter of Tls. 15,000 at least ; for there are four or five large 
courts, scores of out-houses, gardens, ponds, bridges, and whit 
Dot. Yet the French Missionaries obtained it for Tls. 2,000. As 
they were good enough to place a room at my disposal, I passed 
a few days there ; and, though certain unearthly and weird noises 
were heard occasionally in the dead of the night, I did not find 
the devils at all in my way ; and moreover, if I had, was fully 
prepared to 'go for' them. 

You join the road which leads to Pi-shan Hien, a mile or so 
from 8ha-p'ing Pa, and I made an excursion to the coal mines 
dotted around a high mountain called Ko-lo Shan. They were 
occasionally worked, along with lime-stone quarries and occasion- 
ally without them. Some of them produced as much as 900 
loads, or hundred-weights, a day ; but I found it exceedingly 
difficult to obtain accurate figures from anyone. The people 
around were about the most suspicious-looking and stupid that 
I ever met in China, and seemed to have no ideas beyond their 
native hamlets. Moreover, the Sz Ch'uan people, of this neigh- 
bourhood at least, though quiet, are said by their own people to 
be most notorious liars and cheats ; hence the epithet Chuan IlaO' 
tsz or * 6z Ch*uan rat,' now applied to them by other Chineae. 
They evidently thought that I was on the look-out for gold or 
precious stones, (aa far as they were capable of thinking at all) ; 
and in fact one man asked me if I could see through the ground, 
or through the water of a river. The mines were all dug hori- 
xontally into the mountain side ; but as there were no intelligent 
workmen to explain operationa, I did not dive in. 



182 Up tlie Yang-ise. 

There are several kinds of coal and charcoal ased at Ch'ung- 
k*ing. The most ordinary kind is the Ts'z-oh*i E'oa coal, so 
called from the place above described, whence the fuel comes. 
The price of this at the mines is 130 cash for a load, (t^iao), 
of two measures, {tou)y of lumps mixed with slack. The tou weighs 
40 catties. At Ch'ung-k'ing the price is 150 cash the load, or 
three cash for the catty of 20 ounces* retail. Another soft and 
smoky sort from K'i-kiang district is called AVeng-yao, and, 
o£fered for sale after having been freed of its volatile and bitum- 
inous matter, appears to be nothing more nor less than coke. This 
sells at Gh^ung-k4ng at from four to five cash the large catty. 
A third sort, called 2'^ieh mei, or * iron coal,* also from Ts*z-ch*i 
K*ou, costs at Ch*ung-k*ing 160 cash the load, and is the kind 
which blacksmiths prefer to use, being less smoky than the first- 
named. A fourth description is the PS mei^ or white and smoke- 
less coal from Yung-ning, near the border of Kwei Chou. This 
is only sold wholesale, at the rate of about 3,900 cash the 1,000 
catties, and is used by confectioners. Owing to difficulties of 
transport, the demand is much greater than the supply. The 
fifth kind is the Chi-kwan i^attf from a place higher up than 
Ts'z-ch*i K*ou, on the Little River. The price of this at Ch'ung- 
k4ng is 150 cash for slack, and 280 to 300 cash for large lumps. 
It does not smoke very much. In Sz Ch*uan the word fan, 
* charcoal,' is usually used alone to signify coal, bnt tnei-Van is 
not uncommon. Oak [ChHuj-kan'j) charcoal, called Kanj^Van, 
costs from 15 to 20 cash the catty, accordingly as purchased 
wholesale or retail. The retail catty is 16 ounces, and the whole- 
sale 20 ounces. Charcoal from other woods is called P^ao-Van 
or * soft charcoal,' and sells at about 11 to 13 cash the catty, 
always of 20 ounces. 

About twelve miles above Wan Hien, on the right bank of the 
Yang-tsz, the people said they paid two cash a catty for their coal. 
I saw lime and coal workings together, on the left bank, a few miles 
east of Ch'aug-shou. Kear Pa-tung in Hu Feb, the coal was 
mixed with water and moulded into circular bricks, {T'an Yiian 
or Wan)^ sold at a cash apiece. A cash a catty was the lowest 

• Note — In Sz CL'uan weights and measures vary with almost 
every kind of produce. 



Kia-lin^ Eiver. 183 

price I heard anywhere mentioned. K>ughly speaking, then, 
ooal may be purohased anywhere from I-ch'ang to Ch*ung-k*ing 
for from $2 to $3 the tun. The numerous rich coal mines near 
Ch'ung-k*ingi owing to the prohibitive co»t of coolie transport,^ 
lOOicash the load, or at the least ^3 a ton,— are mostly unavail- 
able for any but purely local trade. Everyone at Ch*ung-king 
burns coal. The average consumption by each family for cooking 
purposes is ten loads a month. The population, as taken at a rough 
census a year or two ago, was somewhat under 80,000 males, and 
somewhat over S0,00(> females ; but as G K) picuU of rice are re- 
quired for the daily e )nsumption of the town, and as each nominal 
picul weighs -400 cutties, this would make the papulation, at the 
rate of one catty of rice pt'i- dictn ahead, to be 210,00(), or say 
40,000 familit s ; but it is considered that there are not more thaa 
20,000 families, which would give 200,(X)'<) loads of coal a month 
or 2,4. O.OuO a year. This would amount to about 100,OvX) tons, 
at 80 catties the load, a regular catty bein;; 1^ pounds avoirdupois. 
The bitumen, sulphur, and gas extracted from tne Wtnj Yao coal 
do not appear to be utilized in any way. 

The boatmen on board the boat which tK)k me up the Little 
River burnt a sort of coke which they said came from Kiang K'ou, 
and which was evidently K'i-kiang ooal. They had bought 100 
catties of it for 32) cash at that place, which they had just passed 
on their road from Lu Chou, and it had lasted them 13 days ; that 
is, they were able to cook all day long for six or eight persons for 
one penny a day. This coke does not smoke at all, and keeps up 
an excellent heat in the little clay barrel-like furnace standing 
in a recess at the b<)w of the boat. On my way down the 
river, I noticed that they purchased one t<nk or 30 catties of 
what they called Yen-iBz T'an or 'smoky coal* at a place 
called T*uDg-chia Chi, or Krh-t*ang, just below Chi-kwan, and 
for which they paid 90 cash. This ooal resembled very much 
the Yen Mci or soft coal of Peking, and was a great 
nuisance to us all, on account of its smoke. The aame ooal 
in the form of slack was 80 cash. The short water journey of 
20 miles to Ch'ung-k*iog, they said, raised the price to 120 and 
130 cash. Such are the difficulties of conTeyance in thia 
part of China, that what is an expensive luxury in one town 



IStt Up ihe Tang'ise. 

Ib freqneiitlj a saperfiaoos and unsaleable oommodity a feW 
leagues oit 

The mountain called Ko-lo Shan eaps the area of the eoal 
mines in the region of Tt'z^h^ K'ou. It derives its name from 
ihe jojous musie made bj the moTemeot of the magnificent trees 
which onee covered its summit. Now alas ! it is completely bare, 
and the temple is in ruins, the present priest having debauched his 
substance, and flung awav his last tree in harlotry and gaming. 
The English missionaries at Ch^an^-k'in? occasionally spend a few 
days amid the airy ruins in order to avoid the heat and stenehes of 
a city summer. In Sz Ch'uan a great deal of land is held by 
Buddhist priests, who at the close of the Ming Dynasty, (1614), 
and after the devastation produced by the arch-disturber Chang 
Hien-tsnng, proceeded to take possession of and enclose large areas 
of land, (cA'ciA kiai wei yeh\ which have remained theirs until this 
day, and have of course increased in valne. 

The great Sz Ch'uan rebellion of the seventeenth century was 
started by an ambitions blacksmith named Li Tsz-ch'eng, whose 
skill in manufacturing arms had gradually brought him to a 
position of sffluence and influence. He and Chang both hailed 
from the borders of Sben Si, and, joined by a dozen or more of 
kindred spirits, proceeded to attack the Ming rule. Li made for 
Peking, Wang San-hwai took the east of Sz Ch*uan, and Chang 
attacked the west. Chang's ferocity was unprecedented, even in 
the annals of China. He almost entirely depopulated the Province, 
in such wise that the present inhabitants, with the exception of 
those on the south-east frontier, (who are the old stock, or lao pin)^ 
are nearly all immigrants or the descendants of immigrants from 
Hu Kwang and Kiang Si. The reason for his furious savagery is 
stated by popular tradition to have been twofold, and there it 
something so droll about it that it is difficult not to attach some 
credit to the story. It appears that Chang Hien-tsung had been 
invariably overreached in bis mercantile transactions with the wily 
Sz Ch*uanese of those times, who in huckster's cunning were not 
inferior to their descendants of this day. At last he was cheated 
at a gambling house of every copper cash he had in the world by 
an assembly of local filchers, in such wise that he sold everything 
he had, even to the last rag on his back, in order to pay his score. 



Kia-lin^ Hivcf. 186 

t>o<igfng dcBtitiite ia a temple) he rose at night to obtain thai 
temporary relief which nature denies not to her least favoored 
■ubjeots, and) grasping at what he thought was a bundle of straw, 
applied it for some reason to his person. It tamed out to be 
nettles, but the mistake was not discovered until the luckless 
Chang was covered, — not from head to foot, but midwaj,->with 
hideous stinging pains. With a rude oath he exclaimed : ' Why, 
the very plants of this cursed province are in league against me,* 
and swore to destroy every organic thing in it — a vow which, as 
history shews, he as nearly as possible put into complete ezecu* 
tion.* 

Descending from the ooal-mines to the village of Kau Tien-tss 
on the high road to Pi^shan, the traveller branches off to the east, 
and by a steep stone road about six feet wide, resembling, as is 
often the case in Ss Cb'uan, a flight of steps, arrives at Ts*t-ch*i 
E*ou, a flourishing village of perhaps 6,000 inhabitants, and oon* 
eisting of two distinct parts, separated by the bed of a summer 
torrent, which is crossed by a very substantial stone bridge. The 
country botween Ch'ung-k*ing (after passing mile after mile of 
graves) and Ts'x-ch*i K'ou is a perpetual suooession of ups and 
downs, like vast truncated pyramids covered with vegetation. 
When one leaves the high road, it becomes exceedingly difficult to 
cross the country, for the only paths take circuitous courses 
amongst the paddy fields. At this time of the year, (winter), the 
chief crops are wheat, sugar-cane, the poppy, oarrots, turnips, 
rspe ; and, above all, beans and peas. Beans cover the land from 
the summits of the hills down to the very sand at the water's edge. 
Kroad beans, horse beans, and peas are the chief varieties of pulse» 
There are two sorts of sugar-cane, (Kun cAa), grown in Ss Ch'uan. 
The red variety requires more manure and more attention than the 
white, and, being soft, is chiefly used for eating in its raw state. 
Four sorts of sugar aro made from the white variety. First, the 
common red or yellow sugar, i.e. unrefined or 'brown' sugar, 
which is in commonest use, and sells at 56 to 58 cash the oatty : 
this kind is considered to bo * heat-giving.' Second, the white 



• 1 have Rinoe road the arcntint Kiven by a European Jesuit who 
with him, and find Hjat the so called d'^p'^ptUation could n^^t possibly hsre 
been snything like complete. 



ISO Up the Yaffg-is^. 

ffo^ar, wKkh u amplT li&c br»wii ragmr fre^d of its iapiuitks* 
wfaieh are mM at ^ odd euk tbe catt j under Uie n&aie of Lon^in 
T*ang or ' leaking' Xbe wbite fogmr is eomsidered to be eooUog 
M t comestible, and raries in priee froa ^3 to 100 cask, accordini^ 
toita pnritj. PimgA'amg, or 'iee-sn^r,' i.e. sagar-eaiidjf or 
erjitallized sugar, b agaia made from white sugar, and sells at 
120 cash the eaUr, or TU. 8) the 1,00U catties. It ia ebieflr juitA 
IB entertaining gnesta, making sweetmeats, and so on. Hefined 
iogar is obtained bj placing the brown sngar in Tats, floored with 
grass, and corered with potash obtained from the same kind of 
grass. The vats are exposed to the &iin and dews for about a 
month, when the potash no donbt exereiaea the san^e e£^t as the 
lime-water and charcoal in English refineries. The Lou-tsz runs 
out from a plag in the bottom of the vat, whilst the remainder, as 
jet but imperfectly whitened, is farther refined by exposing it on 
large mats to the sun and night air. 

There is no sugar guild or mart at Ch^ng-king, the mer- 
chant! haling, in recent years, removed to Wan Hien on acoounl 
of certain difficulties thrown into their way here, and of a local 
habit in yogne amongst the coolies of pilfering the sugar. Most iA 
the up-country sugar comes from Sui Fu and the !fui-kiang 
District. The sugar is expressed from th^ cane by two oak (CA'ti*^- 
kanrj) rollers, {Kun), in which are set cogs, (Ch^ih), between which 
the cane is held by a feeding coolie as the rollers are turned 
by cattle. The juice runs along a small bamboo gutter in the 
area to a series of vats, whence it is scooped into the boiling pans. 
Emerging thence, it has more the appearance of cheap 'toffy' 
than anything else. 1 saw one of these factories near Ch'ang-shon 
District city ; but there the rollers were made of stone. About 
twenty men were employed in this factory, and their wages, besides 
food, were 60 cash a day. The owner told me that the price of the 
coarse sugar, as it stood there, was 3,000 cash a pecul, and that 
1,000 cash worth (10 bundles) of cane would produce one peoul. 

Ts'z-oh4 E'ou is about 40 li by water from Ch'ung-k'ing, and 
•36 by land. The road avoids the turns of the river, which it first 
sights at a half-way eminence called Fu-t'u Kwan, a small town 
under the direction of a petty military official, where the Pi-shan 
road branches off from that which leads to tho proyiucial capital. 



Kia-Ung River. 187 

There are two rather remarkable temples at Ta'z-oh'i K'uu, the one 
for its two very correct, artistic and picturesque, dragons of plaster 
winding round two pillars in the great hall, and the other for its 
commanding site on the side of a precipitous rook, the /Sn^-shm or 
' luck ' uf which must, from a Chinese point of view, be very auspi- 
oi(ius. In the one was posted an official proclamation bj the Seng^ 
Airri, or Buddhist Superior for the District of Pa Hien. Between 
the Man-tsz Caves and Ts*z«ch*i K'ou, there are two yerj formid- 
able groups of rucks in mid-stream which cause dangerous rapids 
when the water is high, but which at this season are easily avoided. 
The lower ground at a place called Tsung-tu K^ou, is known as 
the Shih Mdn, or * Stone Gate ;' and there is some legend about 
their having once been connected in a natural bridge. 

The river takes a decided bend to the north after leaving 
Ts'z-ch4 K'on, and rounds a bed of shingle called Sha-p*ing Chi, 
above which are two small rapids, and some very ugly rooks 
running down into mid-stream like a wedge from the banks, 
forcing the trackers to go round and back again. The river in 
the winter only occupies a quarter or a fifth of its summer bed ; 
but in some places it divides into two channels, with awkward 
banks of shingle in the middle. The water is beautifully clear, 
and the bottom can easily be seen. I saw no tishing in this river, 
and no fish, but omitted to ask for any explanation of this pheno- 
menon. The fact that the bottom is nearly everywhere shingly 
would probably account for it, for the most energetic fish could 
hardly suck nutriment from a stone. 

Shortly before coming to the market town of Chin E'on, the 
river makes a bend to the north-west, round what looks like a 
fortified hill on the right bank. Bz Ch'uan appears to be oovered 
with these defences, which have almost the appearance of small 
cities, and remind one very much of Saxon Switzerland, as the 
Elbe district above Dresden is called. Probably the reason why 
they are not found in the coast, northern, and central provinces 
is that the country is not adapted for their construction ;* but I 
understand they are common enough in Ewang Si. 

Chin K'ou is a small coal-producing town on the right bank, 

* I hare lince read that they were mostly ooostructed daring the 
great sectarian rebellion of 17%^ld03. 



188 Up the Yuni-tse. 

thirty U from Ts'z-oh*! E'on, and at this point the river takes a 
tremendous bend eastwards, which continues through various 
tortuosities as far as Yiieh-lai Ch'ang. My only setentifie in* 
struments on this short journey were a walking stiek and a four- 
dollar brass watch ; but as the sun only appeared onee or twice» 
the stick made a poor dial, whilst only the minute finger of the 
watch went round, and . that on condition of the wateh being 
wound up twice a day, so that it may be concluded that my topo- 
graphical observations are open to eorrection. On one occasion 
I requested my servants to hold a consultation with the boatmen 
and villagers as to which direction was due east. B<'ing unable 
to decide within 180 degrees, the services of two village boys were 
ealled into requisition, one of whom swore that he bad seen the 
sun rise in winter over one tree, and in summer over the other. 
The other boy said there was an east wind blowing now, and 
that he understood the east to be that place from whioh the sun 
did come. The above are my reasons therefore for saying that 
the Kia-Iing Kiang makes a general north-westerly course from 
Ch'ung-k*ing to Ho Chou, or, rather, a south-easterly course the 
other way about. But from Ch*ung-k4ng to Yiieh-lai its coarse 
is, first north-west, and then north-east, describing a semicircle 
round the direct road from £iang-Pdh to Yiieh-lai. The half- 
way village between those places is Ylian-yang K'iao. A 
few miles above Chin E'ou there is a very awkward rapid 
called He-yang Shib, where the main ohannel runs, not only 
across the river's bed, but a little backwards to boot. On the 
down side of the current is a sloping shingly bank, covered with 
a few inches of rapid water. Ou the up side of the current is a 
similar bank, a foot or two higher than the lower one. The extra- 
ordinary spectacle is presented of junks mooring in mid stream in 
the slack water below the upper bank, with their stems and sterns 
across the river, and of other junks being towed with iniinite pains 
across the river only a few yards from where the anchored junks 
are peacefully lying. Descending junks come tearing down be- 
tween these two, and look as if they would annihilate every ob- 
stacle. It was interesting to watch one of the anchored junks 
set herself loose ; but she made a bungle of it. Only a few inches 
of pushing were required to plunge her into the foaming current ; 



Kia-lin^ River. 1S9 

but, for some unexplained reason, ihe swept round with hor head 
up-stream. Even body on b(»ard got mixed up with the tackle 
and bow sweep, which took quite independent action, and com- 
pletely cleared the decks. The junk then gave another turn 
round, her long sweep catching the cabin of an upward junk fair 
and square, and crashing both itself and the gingerbread gear of 
the other craft into splinters. The hands on both junks were 
levelled like ninepins by the respective ends of the errant bow- 
sweep. As a rule, Chinamen will almost yell their lungs out for a 
matter of a few cash ; but on this occasion the disaster was ao 
sudden and startling that nobody spoke ; moreover, it would bo 
ill-speaking from a prone position in the cockpit with an irate 
bow-sweep flourishing itself in wanton independence above. 

About live li above Hu-yang Shih is T'ung-ohia Chi ; and, 
five li above this again, Ki-kwan T'an, also on the right bank, 
and evidently a thriving coal station. The people said that most 
of their large coal went up stream to the salt factories of T'ung- 
ch*wan, and that the slack only went down to Ch<ung-k*ing ; and 
this I can well believe, as I did not notice any ooal ooming down 
stream at all. 

I took a walk across the bluffd enclosed in the bend between 
Chin K'ou and Ki-kwan T*an, and bad some conversation with 
the peasants. They said that their lands were usually held on 
lease, terminable at the tenant's will only. The landlord receives 
from seven-tenths to one-half of the autumn rice-crop, according 
to the amount of Ya tien^ or * deposit,' placed with him by the 
tenant. The Chinese aero, or mou^^ is absolutely unknown to 
the peasantry of this part of Sz Ch^uan : the land goes by the 
' piece,' a word aa vague here as with us, but qualified by adding 
how many tan of rice it produces. A tan is in this case 400 
catties, and nnhnsked rice, or ku-tsz^ is half the value of husked 
rice, or mi. The landlord invariably pays the land-tax, which 
in Ss Ch'aan is nominally light, but is enhanced tenfold by the 
addition of innumerable fees and extras. Moreover, land may be 
sold free of land-tax or encumbered with land-tax so that the 
measnro of land is not the slightest criterion of what tax is due 
vpon it. This is the case in many other parts of China too. 

* One sixth of an Eugliuh acre. 



190 Up the Yan^-fsc. 

The river turns once more to the north at a rapid called Li- 
chia T'an, where a numl>er of coolies are in readiness to lend a 
hand to upward junks. A notice is written in huge white char- 
acters on a boulder to the effect that 28 cash (one penny farthing) 
is the fixed rate for each man. For this sum, which is more 
than double the usual rate, the coolie does half-an- hour's hard 
work, and, besides, follows the boat for a mile or two to chaffer 
about his remuneration. In this case our skipper held out suc- 
cessfully for 24 cash. 

After rounding Li-chia T^an, you lose sight entirely of the 
range of mountains which runs in a north-westerly direction from 
Ch'ung-k*ing to Pi-shan, and of which the most prominent peak 
is Ko-Io Shan, apparently about 2,000 feet above the river level. 
A little higher up, a notice daubed in whitewash upon the rocks 
informs the traveller that, in the 10th year of T'ung-chih, (1871), 
the water rose to that point, which appeared to me to be about 60 
feet above its winter level ; but some of the peasants informed me 
that in the k^ng wu year, (1871), the water had risen 100 feet. 
All the way up the river I heard of thei terrible flood of king wu 
year ; but I could not find a single person who could name the 
year of the Emperor's reign, or calculate how many years back it 
was, — at least without spending some time in the operation. In 
that year, the city of Ho Chou, the highest roofs of which 
certainly stand cow 100 feet above the water, was completely 
swamped, and the inhabitants had to encamp on the neighbouring 
bills. The water even entered one of the gates of Ch*ung-k4ng, 
and the position of Ch*ung-k4ng resembles that of Ehrenbreitsteia 
on the Rhine more than anything else I can think of. 

Yueh-lai Chiang is a market-town on the left bank of the 
Little Kiver, and is, I was informed, a considerable grain market. 
Grain of all kinds was stated to be cheap and plentiful in those 
parts. A small rapid called Ta-kwa Shih has to be passed before 
arrival at Yiieh-hi. The boatmen took the opportunity here of 
laying in a store of rice. Six hundred tarif or 240,000 catties of 
rice, and one hundred and fifty tan of pulse and other grains are 
required for the daily consumption of Ch*ung-k^ing. Part of this 
is doubtless required for spirit-distilling, paste, and other mana* 
facturJDg purposes ; but it enables one to make a fair estimate of 



l\itrlino River. 101 

what the populatioD must amount to, as is shewn above. The 
average duily coDsumption of all ages and both sexes in meals 
nlone is four ko^ or ^\^ of a sheriff per capita. The number of 
boatmen who purchase stores here, and o2 villagers who take a meal 
in the city on their way to and fro with their commodities most 
also be taken into account. Sz Ch*uan has always produced more 
rice than it can consume; and, in years when the surplus produce 
is nut required by other provinces, it is stored in its preservable 
or unhusked state (ku-Uz) in the granaries, the contents of each 
bag being aired once a year. In this way it may be safely laid by 
for ten or a dozen years. During the year 18S0, rice was exoep* 
tionally cheap at Ch*ung-k*ing, the prices being 720, 690, G50, and 
610 cash the lou of 40 catties. A strong roan could thus easily keep 
himself in food for one penny a day. Tho different kinds, begin- 
ning with the best, are shunj shoUf nan shou^ isUfj thou^ and ch*i 
tsz^ all of course from Sz Ch'uan. 

A little above P'u-t*o, on the left bank, the first of three suo« 
cessive gorges is entered, known as the Kwan Ilia. On the other 
side, a mile or so above P^-t'o, is a village called Ch'dn-chia 
Liang, which boasts a very tolerable pagoda. The banks of the rirer, 
which had been growing more and more sandy aa one advanced 
from Ts*z-ch*i K'ou, now narrowed in and became barren and pre* 
cipitous. There seemed to be a great deal of coal and lime in the 
vicinity, as each village was engaged in the trade. I noticed acme 
rather weird-looking caves in this gorge, but nothing else rery 
remarkable. The hills on either side are apparently not more than 
7<)0 or 800 feet in height, and the pass bears tome resemblance to 
Ulakiston*s *Iron Gorge,' a few miles below Gh'ung-k*ing. A 
slight bend to the north-east at the upper end of the Kwan Hia 
brings into view Hwang-kwo Shu, a long and straggling market* 
town on the left bank, consisting of two kai^ or separate portioni, 
at either end of a perfectly flat embankment. In the year 187 1, 
the waters overflowed this embankment, and flooded the lower 
lerela on the other side. As you emerge from the Kwan Ilia, a 
■pur of barren hills about 1,000 feet high runs to the south-eaat, 
and forms, with the low hills on which the town is built, a sort of 
triangular basin, of which the apparently artificial dyke connecting 
the two ends of llwaug-kwo Shu ib the base. IUtc again 1 ootioed 



19^ Up the lang-tse. 

a great deal of coal, and here also I wa« told that it was nearly all 
sent up the river, from which I oonolude that there is no coal in 
the north part of the Proyinoe. Beans were here grown in great 
profusion, from the tops of the hills, right across the shore, and on 
patches of sandj soil in the rocks, down to the water's edge, t 
only saw very occasional patches of opium, though around Ts'x- 
ch*i K*ou I had noticed it planted in great quantities. Opposite 
Hwang-kwo Shu is the village of Pd-pei, above which the rooks jut 
out far into the river bed, and form a very dangerous obstacle for 
junks to round. They are locally known as P^-shih Liang, and 
just above them is a dangerous rapid in a bend called Kou-ehia 
Wan. A few days later, in descending the river, our boat nearly 
came to grief here ; and already since our first visit one large junk 
had been wrecked. Her cargo of rape-cake and <'tfii^-cake was 
being dried on the rocks. Several other junks were wrecked 
during our passage up and down: but the Chinese seem quite 
prepared for such occurrences, and simply rig themselves up a mat 
shelter on the bank, and encamp there until their cargo has been 
salved, and their boat leisurely repaired. We now entered the 
second gorge. The course of the river is here almost due north 
and south, and the hills on each side are apparently about 700 feet 
high. This gorge was, until a few years ago, a perfect nest of salt 
runners, who defied the authorities, and swamped the surrounding 
country with uncertificated salt from Sh^-hung. There appears to 
be a great deal of mineral wealth in these rocks, for coal-mines 
and lime-kilns were dotted over each bank of the river. I noticed 
here a very ingenious contrivance for ventilating the coal mines. 
Near the mouth of the mine, a wheel is turned by water, conducted 
from the top of the hill in bamboo tubes : this wheel turns on the 
same axis as a second wheel, which revolves in a covered-up case 
having a hole in its side round the axle. The circumference of 
this latter wheel is supplied with a number of exaggerated cogs or 
fans, which pump out the foul air from a horizontal shaft or con* 
ductor carried into the mouth of the pit. I was informed that the 
coal-diggers worked with an ordinary oil-lamp made fast round 
their foreheads ; but, as I did not care about crawling down one of 
the mines, and found no one intelligent enough to explain upon 
Tvhnt principle th€PC lamps were mad*», I failed to ascertain if any 



Kia'lifi£ River, 193 

prMautton was taken against fire-damp. About half waj throagk 
the gorfe ie a temple called WeD-oh*tian 8z, through which rnoe a 
■tream of tepid mineral water, and in which are oonetruoted hatha 
for the nee of invalids. This water runs down a steep incline into 
the river, and, from its warm and smoking appearances, gifes ita 
name to the gorge, namely Wen-t'ang Hia. I requested the priest 
to conduct me to the source of the warm stream, which was about 
200 feet above the river ; but nothing could be seen except a drj 
hole, through which he said the water occasionally bubbled up. 
It escaped, when I saw it, from an invisible underground spring 
below this hole. The natives called the water iiao^ihui or * salt- 
petre-water,' and said that it came from a great distance. I 
brought a bottle of it back with me to Ch*ung-k'ing, and begged a 
member of the French Mission to test it for me. This he waa 
obliging enough to do, and his verdict was as follows : * Elle oon- 
tient prineipalement du sulfate de chaux, et n*est pas m^icinale; 
e'est ee qn'on appelle eau s^I^oiteuse.' 

Next door to the temple was a large lime and paper factory. 
Among the manufactures of 8z Ch'uan, that of bamboo paper is 
decidedly one of the most interesting. Young bamboos art first 
split into shreds, and are then placed in layers in a large pit, with 
a quantity of unalaked lime or lime-stone, (Ami ktoang), betwaan 
each layer. Water is then poured upon the mass, and it is left to 
seethe there for several months. The rotten bamboo is then taken 
out, and cleansed of the lime particlea, after which it is plaoad ia 
a bottomless barrel or steamer, standing upon an iron pan. A fifo 
is lit below the steamer, (kwang Vumy), and the matt is wall 
boiled. It is next ground in a stone mill, (iMrn), and rakad out, 
being then deposited in a stone trough full of water, over wkioh 
the workers stand. A beautifully fine curtain-like bamboo framo, 
about three feet broad by 18 inches long, at fine at a tooth-comb, 
is then dipped into the mashy mixture, and taken ont with a thift 
film depoeit upon its surface. This framo is gently plaoed npoo a 
heap of rinilar depoeit, (which in larga qoaotitiea looks Uko a pUo 
of melted ginger- bread), and carefully lifted, leaving the depoeit 
behind. When the heap has dried, it is deftly torn into shoeU 
of coarse paper. The coarsest kind is called ekih eking, or * paper 
essence/ l^ao chih and $hwm rAiA, i.e. 'grass' and 'water 



194 Vp the lang-tse. 

^ti^pn ' are other names. The bamboo frames are Terj expeiiaiTe» 
•osliBg, the workmen said, oTer 1000 cash apiece. They wera 
paid at the rata of 18 eash the 360 sheets for the mere labour of 
taking the mash oat of the trough, and stated that thej eonld 
eaeh of them earn 500 eash a day, and that two sheets of paper 
sold for one eash. At Ch'ong-k*iog, however, the price is 900 
eaah a k^un (or ream) of 50 ilo (or quires) of 30 single sheets. 
This would be at the rate of fire sheets for one eash ; hot no doubt 
the qnslities differ. 

We met a Urge fleet of offieial salt janks coming down this 
gorge ; and some frightful altereations went on between our crew, 
who were whistling for a breeze, and the crews of the salt- junks, 
who in some way or other, not perfectly clear to me, by counter 
demonstrations encouraged the unwilling B^ireas and Earns to 
keep away. Some of these salt junks, I was told, carried as mnch 
as 130,000 catties of salt, or about 85 tons. The salt wells of 
8bd-huDg and the neighbouring towns produce over 5000 loada^ 
(tscu), or, say, 225,000 tons of salt a year, and supply the 
northern part of the proTinee, as well as a portion of Shea Si 
The salt wells at Tsz-lia-ching in Fu-shnn produce oyer 
8000 loads, and those at Wu-tHing Ch4ao in K*ien-wei about 
4000 loads. These three factories are under strict goTemiaent 
supervision, and bring an enormous revenue to the Sz Ch'uan 
treasury, as well as to the Hu-pdh government.* The west of Sz. 
Ch*uan is supplied to a certain extent from the wells of Nui- 
ohiang and Kicn-chou, whilst a certain quantity of Yung-p6h 
(Tiin Nan) salt is consumed in the Lolo country of Kien-ch'ang, 
(West Sz Ch*aan). The prefectures of Chau-t*ung and Tung- 
ch'uan of Yilu Nan, however, import Sz Ch*uan salt, and the 
province of Kwei Chou depends almost entirely upon Sz Ch'uao* 
In the extreme south-east, a considerable irregular salt industry 
is conducted at Yii-shan Chen, which exports also to Hu Naa. 
K^wei-chou Fu produces about 80 loads a year during the four 
winter months, when the beds are exp'»<ved ; and Ta-ning, Yiin- 
yang, and K'ai Hien produce about 600 loads between them* 
Until the year 1878 Hu Feb is said to have imported from Sa 
Ch'nan nearly 10,000 loads a year, on which was collected at 

* Se« s fuller description of these wells in s succeeding chapter. 



Kia-ling River. 195 

Ch<uDg-k*ing alone a sum of between TU 300,000 and Tli. 
400,000 /4X-1/1 duty, and at K'wei Kwan nearly double ai maob. 
The re-organization of the Uwai salt trade is now driving the 8s 
Gh^uan salt out of II u Kwang, and the Yang-ohow ealt traders 
ba?e offered TU. 1,600,000 a year for the monopoly of the Three 
Kiang and Two Hu ProYinccs. It is not too much to say that 
the telUng value of Sz Ch'usn salt at home and abroad reaches Tls« 
€0,000,000 a year, on which the Sz Ch*uan Oovernment raises at 
least Tls. 3,000,U00 in taxes. The Hu Peh Oovernment, it is 
said, also levies a tax of 18 cash a cfttty at P'ing-shan Pa aboTO 
I-ch'ang, which produce* ovi»r Tls. 2,000,000 a year.* 

Opposite the villages of Krh-ngai, on the left bank, the river 
makes a bend, first to the north- «rest, and then to the north-east. 
At the apex of the bend is a hamlet called Shs.oh'i K*oa, where 
a gunboat is stationed, and downward salt junks are overhauled. 

A mile beyond Sha-ch'i K*ou, on the same bank, is a oon- 
siderable market-town called Mu-t'ou Ch*i. 

The country opens out for a few miles between the Wen-t'tof 
His and the Niu-p*i or Niu K*ung His, a name given to the third 
gorge on account of a peculiar double cave found on the right 
bank, near its upper end, which cave bears a remarkable ressm« 
blance to a oow*s nostrils. There are two small rapids in the rsaeh 
between Sha-oh*i K*ou and Ch*ao Kai-tsz, a market-town on ths 
left bank where the river again turns north. Its general ooorss 
between the two gorges appears to be north-east, that is, looking 
up the river ; or south-west, in the direction of the ourrent. A milt 
or two above Ch*ao Kai-tsz, on the opposite bank, is the village of 
T'an-pao 'Eh, and, opposite, a pretty large chUtng^ or market-town, 
called Ma-li T*ing, at both of which places coal was being workod 
quite dose to the river. Half a mile further on is Mo-tss T'oOt 
on the right bank, where mill-stones were being hewn in large 
numbers. Just below Ma-li T4ng there is a small rapid oalled 
Ch*in-men 'Eh, in a bend locally known as Fang-ohia T'o. Sooao 
peasants to whom 1 spoke said that, in addition to their land-tax, 
they had to pay various minor levies, such as tsa-tax, salt-tax, 
office-charges, transport, aids to salaries, and so on, whioh 

* Sinee writing thit, I have giren elsewhere a more eossplete aeeomt 
of the Chinese sslt industries. 



196 Up th€ Yang-tie. 

MMmoted ia all to fourteen times the regular laad-Ux. la 
diatrieta, where the people have preaeribed or eaforeed their 
right to freedooB of trade in aalt, the aalt-taz ia levied a»- 
BQallj with the land-tax. Ho ChoB and Pi-ahan are ezaaiplea 
of theae, whieh are called kwei ting diatrietai la the olhera the 
MOBopoliata paj the aalt-tax, and of eonrae retail the aalt at a 
higher rate. The great diffienltj with the OoTemaientY therefore, 
ia to eoofine ealt diatribntioB to reapeetire arean Twcatj 
milea ia often aaffieient to add 25 per eent. to the aelling priee of 
■alt One old man told me that the regular land-tax for Ho Choa 
waa Tla. 17,000 a-jear; for Soi-ning, higher ap, Tla. 37,000 
a-jear ; and for Kiang-peh Tla. 3,0)0 a-jear. Aa there am 154 
diatricta in Sz Ch'nan, and the regular land-tax ia about Tla. 
600,000 a-year, thia woald fn^e an average of Tla. 4,000. 

Along the banks here I notioed a number of white target-like 
danba on the rocks, and, on enqairing for an explanation, waa 
informed that these were intended to frighten the rabbita awaj. 
Tame rabbits appear to be household peta in 8z Ch'uan, for ia 
■everal Tillages I have seen them running about the housea. The 
dogs of the country are a great nuisance. Possibly their feroeitj 
it owing to the local custom of dwelling in detaehed housea rather 
than in villages. The calves of my legs would haTC long ago 
presented a sorry and ragged spectacle if I had not been provided 
with a powerful stick which, under its polished and silver exterior, 
oonoealed a considerable weight of iron. The popular Chinese 
notion that foreigners must have eyes in the bsck of their heada 
mnst in many cases have been confirmed on the return of a 
wounded dog who had unsiiccessfally attempted to appropriate 
part of my pantaloons. My practice was to disregard all ex- 
cessive canine zeal until the anitnal became sufficiently emboldened 
to risk positive contact, and my efforts were then directed to 
suddenly whisking round the stick whilst keeping an eye deoeiy- 
ingly fixed on some objict ahead. Failure to hit thus losts ita 
ignominy, whilst repeated unsoccessful efforts were occasionally 
gloriuunly rewarded by the approving looks of the bystanders. 

Opposite the village of Bz-tsz K*oa, or Miao-tsz Cha, at the 
upper end of the third gorge, is a very remarkable work of art 
called a Siao MUo^ or * young Buddha,' sculptured in the rock 



Kiu'ling River. 197 

on the right bank, tbont 60 feet abore the winter lerel. Thii 
is • youthful figure, about double life-siie, of a ehild Buddha 
kicking up his heels in Manx fashion. The oolourt are Tory 
gsj, and the expression of the faoe very lifelike: in fact, the 
whole forms one of the best specimena of the soutptor't art that 
I have ever seen in China. A short distance above this joa 
emerge from the gorge at a Tillage called Yen-ching Oh4, alio 
on the right bank, where lime is worked in great quantities. At 
this time of the year the current is ? ery slack in all these gorges ; 
anrl, whilst tracking is impossible, owing to the steepness of the 
rocka, upward and downward junks progress at about the same 
rate, by means of oars worked by men standing in the bows. 

Chii-niang T'o and Yin Wo-tsz are the names of two bends 
which bring you to 8ha*ch*i Miao, where the river makes a most 
decided bend east and north, coming round west again as far at 
Tung-ching T'o, whence it turns once more north in a straight 
reach leading to Ho Chou. The distance from 8ha-oh'i Miao 
across to Tung-ching T*o is only 20 U^ but by water qaito 
double that distance. The reach eastwards from 8ha-ohU Miao 
terminates at a bend called Hwang-cbia Wan, where there it 
a most horrible combination of rapids, shallowa, and roekt. 
A huge rock, like a lion couchant, lies in mid itream just 
at the bend, standing at this period of the year forty feet out of 
the water. On the inner side, abont two feet of water mn with 
great rapidity over a shingly bank a quarter of a mile broad from 
the shore. The main current runs outside the rock, and against 
this all but the smallest jnnks must be towed ; bat as the roek 
begins where the banks turn, the trackers oaii only pull at right 
angles to the direction of the upward junk, whilst the rock is too 
high to permit of the line being passed over it. Our line broke 
here, and we had to lose an hour in crossing to the other side, 
where the rapid is swifter and m«>re obstructed, but on the whole 
easier for a small junk. This rock is called Chao Ch*in, and is 
said to be i\it fing-thHi^ or * luck -director,* of Peking, but in what 
manner 1 failed to elicit. In the year king wu it was entirely 
covered, fur the timt time within the memory of the oldest inhabit- 
ant. Several Urge flocks of white egrets (p4 ho) flew by here, and 
we met others both above and below this point ; but as they sped 



198 Up tlie Tan^-tse. 

their way in different if not diametrically opposite directions, I wai 
unable to oonjeoture whether they were impelled by any higher 
motives than the prospect of a marsh full of frogs.' By the way, 
with the exception of these egrets, a couple of qaails, and a few 
wild ducks, together with the ubiquitous dogs and the places where 
rabbits were requested not to come, I saw neither vermin, fish, 
flesh, fowl, nor insect of any kind on or near to the Little Riyer, — 
not even a magpie, a frog, or a cow. On one occasion, certainly, I 
noticed a boatman make a sudden dive at his companion's gaber- 
dine and possess himself of a parasitic creature called a shih-tsz. 
They were considerably amused when I inquired if he intended to 
pat the owner of the coat as his lao-shih^ — a would-be witticism 
which speakers of Chinese will easily comprehend.* 

The reach which runs northward from Hwang-ohia Wan 
terminates beneath a very picturesque cAat, or fortress, called Tiao- 
yii Ch*Sng. In talking of these defences, I discovered that one of 
the boatmen had been taken prisoner twenty years ago by the 
i^bel Shih Ta-k<ai, who had chopped off his q%Aeue^ and kept him 
in durance for three years. As it was known to the Government 
that many of this band were unwilling rebels, he obtained quarter, 
together with other deserters, when the leaders of the band were 
surrounded. 

At Tung-ching T'o there is a very fine nine-storied pagoda 
nestling amongst the cypress and fir trees, which goes by the name 
of Pe-t'a P'i. Opposite to this, is a likin station where dues are 
collected in the interests of Ho Chou. Two miles further up on the 
same side, — the right bank,~there is a still more striking pagoda 
of eleven storeys. You are now in sight of Ho Chou, a town built, 
like Ch'uDg-k'ing, on a wedge of land between two rivers, the one 
of which goes north-west, and is navigable as far as T'ung-ch'uan, 
(twenty days up and six down) ; and the other of which takes at 
Ho Chou an easterly, and afterwards a northerly course to Shun- 
k'ing and Pao-ning. 

Ho Chou was almost destroyed by the great flood of 1871. To 
look at the town as it stands, with the two rivers at their winter*! 
level, it seems hardly conceivable that it could ever be flooded. I 

* Lao-shih, ' a patron/ soandB, moreover, remarkably like the 
English word for the unmentionable parasite. 



Kia-ling River. 199 

took a walk through the citj, which appears to be a very thriring 
place, and which is perhaps a trifle cleaner than Ch*ung-k'ing« 
The Ch*eng-hwang Miao, Temple of Confucias, Ouild-halls, &o., 
are substantial and well-kept edifices, and things generally were 
in a very tolerable state of repair. Ho Choa is of ooarse a great 
trading centre. T'nug oil, and cake ; rape-cake, cotton, wine, 
&e., go up north from Ch*ung-k4ng ; and ooal and lime from the 
gorges. Drugs of all descriptions, and salt come down the rivere, 
besides a quantity of timber. Wo Chou seems to be quite a ship<- 
building place ; more so, in fact, than any I haye yet oome acrosA 
on the Yang-tsz. No junks are built at Ch*ung-k4ng. The 
woods chiefiy used are pi-mn, or 'cypress,' and eh^ing-kanff, a 
species of Qnercutf employed chiefly for the bottom planks* 
Though wood is remarkably cheap and plentiful in eastern Sz 
Ch*uan, coal appears to be the universal fuel, brushwood and 
ch^iuij-kantj being uscl only to ignite the fires. 

Between K'wai-chou Fu and Ch*ung-k*iog I passed many 
places on the rirer where timber was eiposed for sale at eioeed- 
ingly low prices, thin planks, for instance, for 10 cash the chang^ 
or one half penny the fathom. At Cb'ung-k'ing timber for 
building is sold in pieces fourteen Chinese feet long. When tis 
inches broad by two thick, the planks are called Viao pan ; when 
seven inches broad by 1) thick, they are called lou pan. The 
chicanp jHtn are the Viao pan sawn into three thicknesses of about 
] of an inch, and the/e/t pan the same sawn into four half -inch 
thicknesses. The price raries according to whether the wood it 
n U (f Quercu$ cornta^ Lour.) or «Aa mu (f Cunninghamia lanewm 
lata) ; planks of the former ranging from three mace and orer, and 
the latter two mace and over apiece. The extra eott of tawing 
the planks into thinner pieces is fixed at 18 cash the 'thread * 
(fi'en), or thickness. The timber of the •ung tree (f Pinu» iinensU^ 
Lamb.) is not considered desirable, on account of the readinttt 
with which it warps or shrinks. The ko (or chio) pan, and ko (or 
chio) ttZt — the latter being the same length and thickness bat ball 
the breadth of the furmcr, — are always made of $ha mu^ and cost, 
now, respectively, a trifle over a moce or over five oandareens tbt 
piece. The length of the ko-pan is 14 feet, by five broad, and 
nearly two thick : they are chiefly UKd as rafters. Larger piecea 



iOO Up the Yani'tse, 

of timber called lo-yen, from 18 to 24 feet in length, bj 8 or 9 feet 
in breadth, and 2 to 3 in thickness, have no fixed price, but yary 
from Tls. 5 to TIs. 10 the piece. Pillars of timber are sold 
according to diameter {ktoo-ain)^ and the price differs aooordingly 
as thej are prepared or in the rough. Up to one foot in diameter^ 
pillars of forty teet in length are cheap, not costing more than Tla. 
2.5. Twenty or thirty taels would not purchase the same length 
with a diameter of a foot and a half, and still thicker pieces have 
only fancy prices. 

After inspecting the city of Ho Chou, I determined to asoend 
the 8hun-k*ing river about seven miles further, to its jnnotion 
with the E*ii Ho, the river which runs down from Ewang-an and 
K*ii Hien in the north-east. For the first two or three miles 
navigation is intricate, on account of the numerous rocks lying 
about. On the right bank, beginning at about four miles from 
Ho Chou, are innumerable Man-tsz Tung, or savages' oaves, 
scooped out of the rocks, all on the same model as those already 
described. The only information any one could give was that they 
dated from a * former dynasty.' Some of them were utilised at 
lofts of store- houses, but none as dwellings, even for the pigs, 
though they had a more wholesome, not to say snug, appearance 
than many of the houses. Blakiston and other travellers have 
already noticed the Cheshire-farm-like exterior of the 8z Ch'uan 
homesteads, whitewashed with lime, and having black wooden 
supports between portions of the walls. I found the people every- 
where quiet and indifferent ; but suspicious, timid, and intensely 
stupid. Though more civil, or rather less aggressive, than the 
people between Eewkiang and Hankow, they are not as manly ; 
and though quieter than the people around Chinkiang and Shang- 
hai, they are not as simple and honest. The dialect spoken 
everywhere was the same, — an improved variety of the Hankow 
dialect, the tones being absolutely similar. All those whom I 
questioned were immigrants or the descendants of immigrants : the 
old stocks seem to have been rooted entirely out of this region ; 
but on this point my enquiries ha?e not yet had time to lead to 
ripe results.* 

Tlie junction of the K'ii Ho with the 8hun-k*ing River 
* The sectarian rebellion half depopulated this region again. 



Kia-ling River. SOI 

is in BO waj remarkable. There is no town or considerable 
village witliia sight. ETeTythin.:? looks calm and peaceful 
around, as though one part of the river had said to the 
other:— 'Let ns go our ways in peace.' Accordingly, one part 
goes buuth and the other north, the two forming a T with 
the IIu Chuu branch. The wi^ather was so fine and mild that 
I had Bfrrtous thoughts of going on to K'ii Hien ; hut this mj 
btcond ezptrienco of boat travelling in 8z Ch*uan proved to me 
thiit the hibt policy was to go up country by land, and come down 
b} wutiT. Ouly those who have laboriuubly toiled up rapids, and 
ri>un(l bnids and rucks, can appreciate the excitement of coming 
tumbinii; down ngttin. The stupid peasants who so proTokingly 
i-.piuttt>d idly un their haunches when they might so easily have 
Knt a hand, now transform themselves into moat picturesque crea- 
turta as they disapp&ar rapidly behind corners. You regard almost 
rt^Tittully a houldtr whose grizzly features you formerly bad suck 
ovcr-ahundiint leisure to contemplate. You regard with coa- 
foitablv sympathy the junks which you meet labouring up the 
ra| i<U as you whi>«k by. The fre»h yet mild air seems to percolate 
through and through you, and produces a roaring appetite for the 
savdry mess w!iich is cooking in the grimy galley. Such, at leest. 
Were my ntltutions as, after two days' downward journey, I onee 
more sighted Ch'ufig-k*iog. 

Ihe wiutcr climutu of this region is peculiar. The tempera- 
ture between December and February rangea steadily betweem 
4.3 acd 00 Fahrenheit night and day, seldom varying mora thai 
o de^'rees in 2i hours, unless the sun appears, which rarely takes 
place oitener than on the average twioe a week; and that for 
only a portion of the doy. Perfectly clear daya are very few and 
fur between ; whilst fogs and mists are the rule. The people, 
liih and poor, complain very much of coughs, which I preenae 
are caubid by the humidity. During the first two aontha I wet 
tluro, the sir wsa never keen ; nor wai it ever keen after onee 
pouing the I-ch'ang Gorge. 

I may now aay a word about Ch'iiog-k*ing. There were 
hidtorics of Ch'ung-k*ing (called also Pa and Yil) ooapiled noder 
tlie Tsin and Sung Dynasties; hut their namee only oow aorrive. 
During the Ming Dynasty, there were histories of botk tla 



it02 Up the laMg-ise. 

Ch'sBg-klag Prefeetme tnd the Pa Diitriet ; hmi tkem mhm dis- 
appeared with almoat emTthin; dM the Prarinee poHeaaed alter 
the Tandal eeour^ of Chaa^ HieB-tnag had ivepi orer Si 
Ch^naa ; and the anaala of the town, at p t caea t exiatxa^ date finMt 
the year 17€0, haTiag been reeeatlj re-edited br the tmolm Sip*ei 
and his eoUeagnea. 

Ch'ang-k*ing is bnilt on and eatirdj oecnpies an isthmna or 
•pit of land between the Eia-ling Eiang and the Min Kiang. 
These are the names used in the modem annals ; bat the loeai 
appellations are Siao Ho and Ta Ho ; or Ho Choa RiTer, (fram the 
town of Ho Choa), and the Yaog-tsz. Daring the Ming Djnastj, 
the area within the walls was dirided into eight fang or warda, 
and the extra-moral portion into two siang or sabarba. In the 
year 1708, the city portion was re-dijided into 29 wards, and the 
onter town into 15 suborbs, with six farther sabarba for the town 
on the left bank of the Eia-ling, known as Eisng-peh T'iog. 
The Saog Dynasty divided the country portion into foar chiA^ 
or market-towns ; the Ming Dynasty into 72 /i or Tillages. At 
the beginning of the Ch*ing, or present Manehu Dynasty, the 
division was into four li; but in the year 1760 this namber was 
changed to twelve, each li being sub-divided into ten cAui, or 
hamlets. 

The Prefecture of Ch^aog-k*iog must not be confoanded with 
the DiBtrict of Fa, the one walled town commonly known as 
Ch'ung-k'ing being the Prefectural and District Capital respec* 
tively of both territorial divisions, the latter of which is contained 
in the former. Nor, again, mast the sub-prefecture of Eiang-peh, 
subordinate to the Prefecture of Ch*ung-k*ing, be confused with 
the District of Pa, from which it has in recent times (1761) been 
carved. The Pa Ilien or District is bounded on the East by that 
of Ch*ang-8hou, the frontier of which is 200 /i distant; on the 
Houth-cait by that of Nan-ch*uan, 180 li ; on the South by K*i- 
kiang, 100 li : South-west, Kiang-tsing, 100 /i; West, Pi-shan, 
80 li; North-west, T^ung-liang, 140 li, and Ho Chou, 100 /i. The 
area of the District would thus be, roughly speaking, 40,000 li or 
a,G00 Hquare miles. Two and a half (those on the north bank 
of the Kia-ling) of its hamlets have since been transferred to 
the Kiang-pyh Sub-prefect, and eight hamlets of one of its western 



Kiu'lin^ Hirer. 205 

vilUges to tlte Magistrate of Pi-ahan. The right bank of the 
aeoond Gorge is partly under Pi-ahan. 

The Prefecture and District had manj and rariona namea 
and territorial divisiona and amalgamatioaa during the earlier 
Dynaaties; but Hung-wu, founder of the Ming Dynasty, built 
the city in ita present form, with 17 gates ; nine made to open, 
and eight permanently closed. The rebel Chang Hien-chnng 
took possession of the city during the reign of Ch*ang-oh6ng, the 
last Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, having effected an entrance 
by the Western or T^ung-yiian Gate, the only one which opens 
freely on the plain. The Viceroy K'ai ordered the thorough 
repair of the city walla in the year 1761. Every inch of ground 
within the walls is closely built upon ; and the walla themaelvea, 
which look massive and lofty from the outaide, reaemble from 
the inside more those of Cheater or Arlea than the broad ramparti 
of an ordinary Chineae town. The rock on which the town ia 
built ia aufficient protection, the outer aurfaoe of the walla only 
serving to render sheer the rough face of the hill. 

The number of registered land ownera in the District waa 
2110 at the commencement of the present Dynasty. It ia now 
fixed at 13,638, the number in 1759, (although 898 additional 
ownera have appeared in the meantime), paying a land-tax of 
Tls. 10,733, with a proportionate addition for intercalary months. 
This amount ia never to be exceeded, having, with the land-tax 
all over China, been made perpetual from that date. The Em- 
peror Kien-lung thus anticipated King George the Third by 38 
yeara. • 

* Sinoa wriiiDg this. I have treated of the land-lax of^Cbina in a 
special paper. 



'^^'^ f> th^ TrmS-tse. 



THE GREAT SALT WELL5. 

I set out alon« the identical rood pur«ied by the gaUant 
CapUxn GiU, and almost on the exact day in the year choeea 1>t 
that enterpming traveller, for a journey west to the aalt wells. ' 

Gravestonea and mounds are the sole objects which Une th« 
road on both sides, as far as the eye can reach, for the first few 
miles beyond Ch'ung.k^ing. Many of the vaults are called Sh^,^j. 
thi, and, as far as I could make out, were held to be depoaitarie. 
of the bones of the people of depopulated S2 ai*uan, erected W 
eharitabU folk after the re-eonquest two hundred years ago. 
Among the graves were a few Man-tsz Tang, or aboriginal cave- 
dwellings, hardly distinguishable externally from the SA^jt^^Jki 
I found it very inspiriting to get a good view of the Great Rirer 
ggais, (the Min-kiang ; or, as it is usually called, even so far up, 
by Europeans, the Yang-taz), and felt, as I recognized the eornen 
X0UD<1 which I had turned in toming from £'i-kiang, as if each 
rock and rapid was an old friend. The situation of Ch'ung-k'iu* 
it reallj a noble one. Ljing in a curve along the middle part of 
1^ S between two bends of the Great River and the emb^iuchure of 
the Ho Chou River, it resembles a leviathan ship riding uneasily 
in a iea of hills. The site of Ch*ung-k'ing in its<:lf, apart from 
its surroundiogs, is somewhat like that of R^me, the main pointa 
(^ difference being the number of hills on which the town is built 
and the fact of two rivers surrounding it, against the single Tiber 
iwisting roand one side of, or rather cutting through the Eternal 
City. Foochow is the only large place I have seen in China which 
ean compare with Ch*ung-k*ing for beauty of surroundings ; but 
the scon^^ry there is smaller, more easily taken in by the eye, and 
less varims. The two cities are about on a par in point of smell ; 
i'oochow, fcrhapfl, a little the better, 

T!.«j iirbt object of note on the road is a heavy iron salt-pan, 
lying reverstd upon a stone pillar to the right of the road, a mile 



WG Up the Yan^'tse. 

day. The ts^z chHa has a large five-pronged leaf. I saw no 
pomegranates, though I searched for them, and certainly enjoyed 
no such shade as that mentioned by Gill. Little traoe of the poppy 
was left. If cnltivated to any small extent, it must have been 
already gathered in, and the ground must have been re-plooghed. 
In some few places the stalks were still in the ground, in a withered 
state, feebly supporting their pale and scratched capsules which 
a week or two ago had gloried in fresh juice, and which now looked 
like a lot of seedy debauchees after a night's carouse. The dried 
capsule shells are burnt with the stalks for potash ; the leaves used 
for manure, or given to the pigs ; and the seeds eaten in sweet- 
meats, or compressed for sweet oil. It is a most valuable and 
paying plant. Wheat was all but ripe ; broad beans and peas 
were either gathered in or over ripe ; paddy shoots were being 
pulled up for transplantation in the slush, and Barbados millet 
(Sorghum vulgare^ or kao-liang) shoots were being pulled up for 
transplantation on the dykes and banks. Tobacco and indigo had 
been transplanted some time, and were coming on ; and sprouting 
hwang iou — a sort of bean, — took the place of the whilom voan tou 
(peas) along the dividing ridges. I passed one good-sized planta- 
tion of orange trees, {kan-tsz) ; and there ends the^m business of the 
day. The whole country looked prosperous, reeking, and unctuous : 
one thought of the Oeorgics, and the lusty countrymen with their 
lutes ; but the wooden creatures on stumps, stooping in an angular 
way to weed the crops, soon dispelled any such poetical feeling. 

We breakfasted at Sz-ch'iao P'u, 30 ii, and tiffined at Pc-shih 
Tib, 60 U from Ch^ung-k'ing. At this latter place pan-salt 
was selling at 48 cash the catty, (about ten per cent dearer than 
at Ch'ung-k'ing), haying come overland from Eiang-tsing, 65 
li in the other direction. We put up at Tsou-ma Eang, 20 li 
more, making 80 li for the day. 

A road to Eiang-tsing branches off from this place. Captain 
Gill has described the road to Gh*ong-tu so well that there is little 
left for me to add. The behaviour of the people leaves nothing 
to be desired, and is in great contrast with the obstreperous 
curiosity of the natives on the E4-kiang. Fu Ghou, and Nan- 
ch*uan routes. Yet he does not make it very clear what his daily 
stages were; but, judging from the descriptions he gives of places, 



The Orcai Salt IVells. 207 

it seems possible that his Dotes were insufEcient to recall to his 
recollection the exact sacoesbion of towns passed. Fifteen li from 
Tsou-ma Kanj; yon pass the frontier stone marking the dividing 
line between Pa Flien and Pih-shan Hien, (the latter but a very 
small Ditttrict carved in recent years out of Yung-oh'uan, of which 
it was a sub-district, and out of Pa IHen), at a pass called Ku- 
lao Kwan-k'ou. Fifteen // further on is Lai-fong Tih, a flourish- 
ing market town which ought to be the first day^s stage from 
Ch'ung-k*ing; that is, if the raetrop>»litan roid stage-rate of 400 
cash a dny for each chair-bearer is paid. Twenty /• beyond this 
is Ting-chi.ing X^ao, and another twenty brings you to Ma-fang 
Ch'iao, a thriving place standing on a small and unnavigated 
river called the Kau-tung Ho, which runs from Chang-ohia Ch*ang 
in the Yung-ch'uon District to the Great River at Yu-ch*i, or there- 
abouts. Itfctween Ma-tang Ch'iao and Ta-an Ch'ang, twenty 
more //', you pass under a stone portal which again marks the 
boundary between Pib-shan and Yung-ch'uan. It is not at all 
obvious why these bjunds are fixed, or how much land to the 
north, south, east, and west of a stone or portal belongs to each 
District. The inns at oil the above-named places are excellent 
(for Chinn), and quite equal to the hostelries on the Peking roads. 
The salt which we saw selling in Pih-shan was a description I had 
never seen before, called thui hica yen^ as white as driven snow, 
and in friuUe blocks like the English salt, not in fillhy-Iooking 
flitches like the kito-pa, Hoth sorts come from Ts2-liu Ching, 
but the shui'hwa is less condensed: its price at Ma-fang was 43 
cash a catty, brought by way of Lung-ch*ang and Jung-ch'ang 
Districts. Fresh opium was exposed for sale in all the market 
towns, and always in cups and saucers. We also met numerous 
opium porters bearing loads of 80 catties to Ch'ung-k*ing. Native 
cloth, dyed and undyed, was the only other article of value I 
noticed ; but a pound of pork for a family feast is quite sufHcient 
inducement to bring the males of a Chinese family in solemn 
conclave to a village fair. The women, as in Hu Peh Province, 
are largely employed in spinning cotton with a very clumsy-look- 
iog wheel : beautifully white ginned and scutched cotton — cotton- 
wool—was selling at 300 cash the catty. The weaving appears 
to be done as much by men as by women. 



208 Up the lang'tse, 

I foand more traces of the poppy to-day than yesterday, 
though it was evident that the maize and millet was sharing with 
incipient paddy the land which had, until a few days back, been 
covered with opium. Wheat was being cut and threshed, though 
it did not seem to be ripe. The flail is a pole having an axle 
running tliough its head, on the riglit side of which pole, and 
turning on the axle, are five sticks fastened together, at intervals 
of lialf an inch, with bamboo curds, and half as long as the handle. 
Rape was also being gathered in and threshed : also hpu isz 
or (?) turnip-seeds. Two or three specimens of a good-sized 
(? Zizyihus) tree called the ktcai chao or ktcai isao were 
pointed out to' roc, already in leaf. This tree brings forth 
an edible berry, like mistletoe, which 1 saw selling in the streets 
of ichang last year. It is used in medicine as an astringent. 
Numerous orange and tea plantations were passed in the Pih- 
slian part of the journey ; my attention was also called to a wax- 
tree called the ch'a-Iah or * tea- wax,' the leaves of which are used 
as tea, and arc larger than th(^*se of the pi-la ; and my informant 
stated that the tuiii/'Chiii(/y {Lvjustriim vufyare)^ and the pi-lah* 
(Fraxinus chinensis) were not the same.f as elsewhere stated by 
me. I passed a rose tree called yiieh-yiieh k^ai or * flower in any 
month,' and a number of wild red flowers called yin-shan hung. 
The dandelion was called teny-lung ts^ao in addition to its proper 
name of ji^u-kuny-yinj : it is used in medicine to * convey ' other 
things down. A little yellow flower, now on its way to a botanist, 
called the /ci chit tniaOj is used for poultices and burns in the 
Cliinvse pharuiacoj oeia. A pink flower growing on a thorn is called 
the (s'z li or 'thorny plura,' (? the prickly pear), and a white 
spreading coruscation of small fluwers the shan lo pu or 'mountain 
carrot.' I must not forget another pretty weed called the hico 
in /itcaiif/f and a small blue flower, or cob of small flowers, called 
the /lid k'li ts'ao. A prickly hedge (common in Canton) is called 
the Vith-lih-pa or 'iron hedge,' and in Canton I think the sAe 
p^ou Ick. 

* Tlie Chinese often coufound Ibcsc with the nu ch'en tt:, or Rhus 
succfdantum. 

\ Tlie sliui chin of R/nmsut is jtlrobablj the shui-eh*ing-kang. If, 
o.s hi; htuli-^, it ih tlio liibi.-cux aV'/'TM.", tlieu this is called Ht Canton 
ffU fou'j^ or * JUuJJLa'b mulbtriy.' 



• ^ 



I 



2 he Great Salt Jl^Us. 209 

At Ma- fang I jumped ap to hear what I really thought waa 
a Scotch air being executed on bagpipes. It tamed oat that tha 
iobtmoieDt was one called the to-na (here aah-hh rh) haviag tba 
appearance of an ezagf^crated stethoscope : I suppose a clarinet. 
Very good (smoky) coal Irum the neighbouring hills was selling 
in the town for two cash the catty. The country in all other 
respects was as yesterdsy. 

The next day I iwtk it easily, breakfasting at Ch'a-tiam 
Chiang, fifteen U from Ta-an, and settled down comfortably in a 
nice quiet inn at Vun-ch*uan Ilien, another fifteen U, or two hun- 
dred in all from Ch*ung-k'ing. It is a real pleasure to- travel cm 
this main road, as the people hardly do so much aa turn their 
beads to look at one, let alone pry noisily in at windows and holat 
in the roof and walls. Yung-eh*aan is to the south-weit, aa yom 
surmount a pass and look down upon a little plain, at the other end 
of which is the city. The Chinese apply the word U*ao to theta 
valleys or bssin-like plains which form so conspicuous and oharao* 
teristic a feature of 8z Ch*uan scenery. The word means ' trough/ 
or ' channel,* and thus bears oat philologioally the views geologteaUf 
expressed by Baron von Riohthofen. Thera was hardly anythiof 
to be seen but paddy land the whole way. Tha water baffaloai, 
which seem to shsre the good-tempered gentlanaaa of tha peopla« 
pound leisurely through two feet of mire at tha rata of one stap 
every two seconds or sn, every now and then affectionatalj eoaxiof 
the mire with their throata and eheeka, as tbomgh perfectly luippy 
and in their native element. 'One buffalo can plough flftaam 
furrows in a morning,' waa the somewhat vagaa aeooant givao by 
a ploughman of his fellow-worker^s capacity. Wa mat innanarabla 
riu Nan ccolies carrying Tila Nan opinm all tha way to thair 
native Province, vii Fu Chou and Shih-nan Fa. Each ooolia 
carried 80 catties, or about 240 dollars* worth. Oraat nambert d 
local coolies were also oonveying $hui hwa salt from Tss-liu ChiBf 
via Yung-oh'ang for distribution in Fih-shan and tha towns wa 
had passed. They said it cost 340 or 3dO aaah tha eh*^t%g of iaa 
catties at the wells, and told for S6 aaah tha antty at Pih-ahna. 
As we approached the city of Yung-eh'ang. wa lonnd tha roada 
thronged with villagers selling loaal opium to tha hawkara nod 
dealera. The answaated {•hing-ckiang) drag, which lookad Uka a 



210 Up the Tan^'tse. 

mizture of treacle and pomegranate pulp, was selling for SO cash 
the ounce, and the opium which had 'settled' (ksia mien) for 120 
and 1^. The rustics said they paid no datj or likin, but that a 
tax of five cash the ounce was leried at Ch'ung-k*ing. Mitn is a 
local word signifying * soft' or jellj-like. The dealers said that 
the soil called ni-i^u produced au opium of better consistener than 
coming from poppies grown in the sandier $ha'Vu, The colour is 
the chief criterion, and the term pao sih, (as with silver), is used 
to express the rich tawnj look. Most of the opium exposed for sale 
was covered with a green mould called $hwang, I passed some 
indigo pits of hard clay dug into the ground. The indigo leaTes 
are soaked for a week, and then withdrawn for use as manure, the 
remaining liquid being mixed with lime. But this is later on in 
the year, and I will therefore leave this matter nntil I witness the 
industry. I also passed dyeing houses, where lengths of cotton 
cloth, which had been dipped in indigo, were hanging up to dry. 
A roan, who was conveying a catty of coarse native yarn to market, 
said that it sold for 240 cash, or 15 cash the ounce. On being 
reminded that Shanghai cotton, already ginned, cost 18 cash, he said 
that his cotton was coarser, and only cost 13. He added that one 
woman span two or three ounces a day. Being asked whether six 
cash (one farthing) was considered a fair day's earnings for a 
woman, he said that he wetted his yarn, and thus secured a profit. 
The only new thing in the way of plants was a vine growiOi^, as is 
often seen at Peking and Canton, upon a trellis, forming a shade 
to the house-front. There were more ponies and mules on this 
road than I had ever seen before in Sz Ch'uan, the former mostly 
neat-limbed little creatures, resembling Corean ponies. Between 
Ta-an Ch'ang and Ch'a-tien Ch*ang, the long narrow blocks of 
stone, laid crosswise, which form the road, were for some miles cut 
out of red sandstone, the first time I had seen them fashioned of 
anything but common flag. 

It waH market day when we passed through the main street of 
Yung-ch'uan, and I never saw a busier street. P'ipas^ or loquats 
were already selling, as usual with Chinese fruit, in a very unripe 
state, and large quantities of the triturated husk of ihefti ton, hu 
toHf or ta^an ton {Fuba saliva or broad bean) for pigs* food. This 
boan is not plucked until the pod has turned perfectly black. 



The Great Salt ]]Ws. Sll 

Yuog-ch'uan, like Pih-Bhan, is a Kwei-ting District, that is, 
one where salt-tax is levied with tho land-tax, and the salt con- 
sumption left to private enterprise. Pih-shan pays about Tls. 
.'i, 000 nominal, and over Tls. 10,000 actuil land-tax a year, and 
boahts of twelve licentiates every two years out of three. Yung;- 
ch'Uiiu struck me as bein^^, after Ho Chon, the most considerable 
city I had seen in Sz Ch'uan, always, of course, excepting Ch*ung- 
k'ing. I was particularly ntruck with the number of opium shops. 
A sort of brick tea also attracted my attention : it was stated to 
oome, rid Ilo-kiang liien, from Jdn-hwai in Kwei Chou, and told 
for 40 cash the pound. There is nothing of exceptional topogra- 
phical interest to note on the way from Yung*-ch'uan to Jung*- 
ch*ang Hien. At Hiang-shui Tun, *2<3 /i, we came across our old 
friend the river which enters the Great Uiver at Yu-oh'i ; two U 
further on we crossed the same river over a long picturesque 
covered-iu wooden bridge with stalls at both sides ; this market 
town is called Shwang-shih Tung. The next village is Uwang- 
kwo Shu, «fO U from Yung-ch*uan. Wo crossed what was stated 
to be still the sJime river again at T'ai-p'ing Chun, 40 li, and once 
m)re at Tan-shih P*u, o3 // from Yung-ch'uan ; but the sinuositiea 
of this stream and the tortuosities of the road are so confusing that 
it is impossible to be certain whether there are two streams or one. 
Yu-t*ing P*u is a market town belonging to the Ta-tsu (here called 
chin) District, a wedge of which runs down between the Yung- 
ch'uan and Jung-ch'ang Districts, the limits of which last are 
marked by two handsome boundary stones a few miles on either sido 
of Yu-t'ing. Yung-ch'uan must be one of the most virtaoas towni 
in China, for the environs of the town abound in stone monameots 
to chaste widows and exemplary men. Shih-p'an P'u is 15 /i, and 
Fi)ng-kau P'u 30 U from Yu-t*ing, and there are 30 more li to 
Jung-ch'ang. Though the scenery is not remarkable, there is 
abundant opportunity of observing the habits and industries of tha 
people, who fully deserve all the encomiums passed upon them bj 
Buccesbivo travellers. The limit of politeness to the east appears 
to bo Ch'ung-k'ing; for throughout that portion of Bz Ch'uan 
south ot the River, at least as far as Fu Chou, the people are both 

* Both these words are prononoccd yfin in the Hankow and Sa 
Ch'usu Dialects. 



212 Up tk^ i'j*/-^*?. 



tkftft i«:^ f^ij feruii ysra^Ttx^ aaifij tn* vin^ U«»s<iMge. 
Of :r««i I zr/±'^ttd. tLft j^j1^, isstHj, %t: iaaKrectlT, Sftlkii t&« 

tfrtftOMr/ uid to le a ^ire ami Tuk^ ; th^ kmmj^tJLta^ %. mwt of 
ffveet p^<At», I bebrre tJk« Cmhs^t^Juj l*ii.££a .- it si taken sp to 
W rtfUiktei en iLe c*sks abo^ tLfs tiai* ; t&e j^-ri«, «r ttjot^ 
(Cs^X'UiMZ axfiifmormmy, wkkk ire Vezs; R^SasSai like 'f^ddj » 
■ix ifiebts cf water ; sad leTeral cvas^ crekardi. I beard tb* 
tnjiidhlt intti km pmrn^f or ]r«ji^-^A~M<!> ss^ic^, and eaa dov aaj 
tlkai it eertaialj ia not tbe eaekoo : and tkia was the obIt bird I 
citlier taw or ]i€S7d« Erea tlie magpie aad egret failed to pat in an 
ap p eara ne e along thcae bocdrcd aad odd aiilea fnm Gi^asf -k^iag:. 
Good eoal of tbe tmokj deaeriptkm waa telHeg ia all tbe towma 
lor wbat maj almoet literallj be deaeribed as ' aolbiag, pliia 
tbe eoat of earriage.' Opiaai aad salt of eoarse we met ia Taat 
foaatitiea; also tbe 'sida' paper from Kwei Cboa, aad tbe 
' grass ' paper alread j elsewbere describe d . Hctitai or ' sea- weed ' 
was tbe oalj eomoioditj I obsenred going from Cb'ang-k4ag. 
1 saw Dowbere traees of anj foreign goods, bat pleat j of aatire eloth. 
I took tbe opportonitjy or ratber manj opportonitiea, of noticing 
eloselj tbe lung-ku eh% — tbe Persian wbeel,* tbe celebrated irrigat- 
ing wheel of the Chinese, — identical in shape all orer tbe Em- 
pire. It consists of a trough of cedar wood, (pi mu), abont twelre 
feet long, bj one deep, and half across, open at either end. A. 
ehain of oak, {ch*iru/'kang)f haying, at interrala of five or six 
inches, square dash-boards, about four inches square, made of 
willow wood, {ma liu)^ is arranged in the following waj. Each link 
is a wedge, forked at the larger end in order to receive the smaller 
end of the one behind, which is fastened to it by an oak pin per- 
mitting of easy motion. The links being wedge shaped, there 
is no difiloultj in making the dashers stick on of themselves, bat 
these are kept additionally secure by a sort of nut. Sometimes 
the chain is worked by hand, at others, (when the area to be 
irrigated is large enough to make it worth while rigging up a 
frame), hy feet ; in both cases by two men ; and in both wajs 

* TVrliapt this t«rm thonld rather be applied to the wheels I 
at Nau cU'aau, and which I have already described. 



Ihe Great Salt Wells. 213 

with about equal resultt. When worked by hand, two wooden 
rollers work aorou either end of the trough, and eaoh roller has 
fixed in it half-a-doz4*Q or so of cogs rather smaller than the pats 
or dashers which they turn. The up|>er roller turned by two 
handles, one at each side, starts the chain, which turns and runs 
round the lower roller. The lower end of the chain and trough 
being in the water, of course eaoh pat carries up with it a certain 
amount of water ; and, as the chain revolves pretty rapidly, there 
is DO time for the water to fall back through the interrala 
between the four edges of the pat and the trough before the next 
pat comes. At an easy rate of working, I should say that such a 
wheel would bring up a gallon a second, and (from enquiriat 
made) two men would require twelve days to put six inches of 
water over an English acre, i.e, to increase by lix inches th« 
depth of water already lying on the surface. I leave it to 
arithmeticians to test how far these two computations will agre«. 
When it is worked by the feet, the chain is turned by an 
axle fixed to a frame standing beyond the upper end of the trough. 
The outer ends of the axle or roller have made fast in eaoh and 
of them fonr pieces of wood exactly like croquet mallets, two for 
eaoh foot, the shank of the right foot mallets being at right- 
angles with the shank of the left foot two. The axle is pro* 
longed both ways so aa to support a pair of polea, joining 
which is a bar, on which the men can lean as do prisoners 
working on a tread-mill. They take about one step a second 
with eaohj foot, and keep it np for hours together. With tha 
band «they can work much quicker, but the exertion is mora 
painful. I estimate, from what I saw and was told, that a 
water-buffalo would require from ten days to a month to ploogh 
an acre of land, aeoording to the quantity of water and the ad- 
hesiveness of the paddy-land; but the largest 'fields' are not 
more than a rood in area, and as a rule the divisions aro very 
much smaller. The plough used here is the same as the primitivo 
implement I saw in Kwei Chou, and have already described. Tho 
share lies flat, and is pointed in front and broad behind, curving 
slightly upward to perform the offioe of a mould-board, which 
office the guider f urtbera by moving the plough from side to side. 
The ' harrow ' used for paddy, is simply a rako (/m), six feet 



21Jf Up the rang'tse. 

broad, with wooden teeth a foot deep. I saw to-day a humaa 
plough consisting of a pole ten feet long borne over the shoulder 
of one man, and made fast, in a way I cannot now recall, to the 
plough guided by another. It was a painful sight to see the 
poor fellow plunging through the mire. Harrow, plough, or 
wheel, with all appurtenances, can each of them easily be carried 
by one man. 

Another interesting study to-day was the manufacture of «Aa- 
hwo or * sand pans,* a species of clny pot, made out of clay mixed 
with coal ashes, and with potash obtained from the burning of 
Bung tree leaves (Finus species). When ' cooked,' they have an 
appearance between black-lead and cast-iron. They are exceed- 
ingly cheap, — about a halfpenny each, — and will boil water as 
well as any other pot. The market-town of Hao-tsz K*ou (Yung- 
ch^uan) is said to be celebrated for its superior pots, but I saw the 
manufacture going on in many villages. 

The pigs in this region are on particularly affectionate terms 
with the human race. The pig at the fair with a wisp of straw 
round his neck ; the sucking pig being tenderly carried to market 
and lying down in an ecstasy of comfort whilst he is awaiting a 
purchaser, — are amusing and daily Chinese sights. Broadly speak- 
ing, pork may be said to be the only, and the universal meat 
food of the Chinese. 

The district-city of Jung-ch*ang is even more extensive than 
that of Yang-ch'uan, and its main street is at least a mile long. 
With the exception of opium, mapUj and hiapu, or the cloth made 
out of hemp and the Boehmeria iiivea^ it does not appear to 
produce much of commercial value. Fans fashioned out of the 
Kwei Chow * skin ' paper are exported in considerable numbers. 
By the way, I omitted to state that there is a considerable export 
of bulrush fans from Po-shih Yih, the sub-district of Pa Hiea 
which we passed on our first day's journey. These reeds,* 
{Lcpironia mucronata)^ are specially cultivated for the purpose, 
and, when their growth becomes thick and rank, are replanted in 
paddy-land about the first moon. In cheap articles de verlti of all 
descriptions the skill and taste of the Chinese is unexceptionable. 

* Sec Dr. Hanco^s disscrtatiou in tho Journal of Botany for April, 
1870. 



The a rent Salt WvUs. 213 

Junj^-ch'anp: Ilicn pays (it is sail) an actual total land-tax 
of about TU. 70,000 a year, but what the nominal amount is I 
was unable to adcortain. It biisU of twelve original and six 
new licentiito vacanci.'«», and frcos itself from the salt-tax by 
sc'ttinf^ ap.irt ct-rtain public lands, tho prntits of which arc devoted 
to tliin purp>s»*. Shni-htca salt was s- llini; for 31 cash the cattjr. 
Thf rivcr wliich Captain Qill raontions is navigable in section! 
for small bi>at« down to V\\ Shih on the Lu Chou River, 
forty /* ohuv<.' I.u Cliou ; but at that point, or, rather, at 
a place calhd Fu-tsz Ch'anjf, a f«rw li above Fu Shih, there 
is an ohstrnotiim in the sliupe of a rapiil, which I shall doubt- 
ltS5 n e or hi'ar more of whfn I get there. Above Jung-ch'ang 
the river is iia>i,;ahle f«»r C) //, the *pr)rt8' being San-chia 
Ch'an;* and I^uuif-bhui (lien : at Yd K*ou, in the Ta-tsu District* 
navij^ation ceasts. None but small wherries ply ou this river. 
Aeroidin^ to furthtr and closer eii«|uiries made respecting the 
puzzling rivers of the laiit few days, tho river which enters the 
Yanj»-t>ze at Yu-ch*i comvs from Lai-feng Yih ; and, now that 
I c> m<> to think of it, I remember parsing at that place under a 
long O'Vi-nd bridgo, which ('ifing thu tir»t of its kind I had seen) 
I mistook lor a bazaar or arcide. Uivi-rs also enter the Great 
Uiver at Fu-hbin Cit'ung and L'>-han Ch*ang; but whence these 
rivrrs c >me is a queb'.ion th»f settlement of which 1 shall postpone 
uritil I d«'Sc-.-nd the Ulvcr. Th>j places between Jung-ch'ang 
an I L'in^-cli'anif ore Mi"ig-tsz K'iao, 2J //; Shaj-chiu Fang, 
\o U m*>rf, (an innuen.H* ly long market town): Taiang-chia Sz, 
wht-re t hire are two ttt<me p »rtals to mark the boundary betweea 
the tvio l).!<titet'«, uK'> \o li : and Li-shih Cht-n, 7 /i. Future 
trdvilUfrt niiy n**^uni thenis'lvcs that Lung-ch'ang is an easy 
f*ur da\!i' travtlling from Ch*ung-k'ing ; thuu;:h (<-KpecialIy if 
the travtlK-r u ignorant of the language) the coolies, owing to the 
frtqiit nry of go^id inns, try to make each stage longer than it is. 
Along this lant stage there are numerous stone pillar^, set up 
by a btnevoKnt magistrate wherever there is a burial ground, 
warning piopte not to cut grass or graze their cattle. These 
OiHuteries are the only pieres of grass left amid a sea of paddy- 
land. In the street stalls I noticed sme very coarse sulphur 
(xi>o8cd for sale, having almost the ap(Karance of slag. Also 



216 Up the Yang'ise. 

gjpiQiD, osed io the making of bean-card in the propoition of one 
in twenty. AUo a peculiar bean* reminding me of the Hovenia 
dulcia ; it was called shih chUn Uz, and was sail to be nsed for 
children, to care pains in the bowels. A red bomt elay which 
attracted roj noticed was obtained from the mountains, and used 
with ^'Mn^ oil to manufacture a dull red -coloured paint for doors 
and panels. Sulphate of copper is used in the same way. Of new 
plants I only noticed the Vien chiao^ a variety of (' sweet ') buck- 
wheat: it is not considered so good as the A'm chiao or 'bitter* 
variety, (Polygonum iartaricum and ftigopyrum respectiyely). 
Firs and pines had become rare ; cedars fewer ; bamboos as usual. 
Of fruit trees I noticed the plum, orange, and jujube, all in fresh 
new leaf. The only tree in flower was the ye-hoh, or Magnolia 
pumila. 

At Lung-ch'ang I appear to have lodged in the identical inn 
and room which extracted encomiums from Capt. Gill. There was 
the vine, and not only that, but a small retiring room. This inu 
is said to be celebrated all over official China for its ' best room ;' 
and as it is really the very best I have ever seen in inhospitable 
Cathay, I will describe the chief apartment in question. The floor 
is the cold cold ground, and the spaces between the threshold and 
the earth would easily admit a large oat. The walls are of 
varnished poles and beams (laid across others in the Cheshire 
fashion), containing earth and whitewash in the square spaces 
between them : they are smudged here and there, and contain full 
many a bole and crevice ; but are not exactly what would be called 
dirty. The roof consists of tiles lying upon joists and rafters. 
The lower windows consist of coloured paper in what the Chinese 
call ' ioe-oraok ' or zigzaggery frames, and have not more than a 
dozen holes ; the upper windows are of dirty white paper full of 
rents and holes, pasted over a square wooden pattern. The furniture 
consists of a flat wooden k*ang, or couch, resembling a small stage, 
and covered with one thin rush mat. Two half-moon tables, with 
a full complement of legs, but with broken foot-boards and 
stretching-bars. Four rigid wooden arm-chairs; two wooden 
teapoys; and a square wooden table, — all with legs complete. 

* This appears to be the Quisqualii tinentU or glabra* 



TJie Great Scdt Wells, 21 7 

Room fifteen feet iqaare, and twenty htf^h : ordinary sleeping 
apartments on each side, with doors which hoth shut and look ; 
and the vineyard behind. This is the best inn in China. 

At Sz jiian Ch*ao, about halfway between Li-shih OiAn and 
Lonf(-ch'anf(, we crossed a small river which is said to join tht 
Lu-chon River near Fu-shun Tlien. A f^reat many males, hortet, 
and cattle were oominf^ from the city with loads of prodaoe. Joat 
before arrivinf^ at Lunf(-ch*an]?, we passed the end of a road ran* 
niog s<iath : this is the hi^h-road to La Chnu, 150 U distant. 

Lunf^-ch'anf^ Hien is a small District, carved oat, at tht 
befcinninf^ of the present Dynasty from the two Districts and the 
Department uf Yunf(-ch*anfCi Fu-shiin, and Lu Choa : it is now 
subordinate to the Prefecture of Sii-ch«>u Fu (Sui Fu). Tea 
licentiates were first allotted to it, until the time of the recent 
wars under the reif^n of Hien Fdng, when, in return for more or 
less voluntary contributions to the military chest, the number was, 
in common with that of many other Districts, raised to thirteen. 
Its nominal land-tax is Tls. 7,( 00, but, what with extraa {eKit^ 
Ueh), and levies {chiian p^tii), between Tls. 20,000 and Tls. 30,000 
are actually collected. The District city is a busy-looking place, 
but I could not find out that any particular branch of trade waa 
exceptionally important. Grass-cloth {kia-pu) and a ooaraar 
cloth (ma-pu) are made in oonsiderable quantities, and I noticed 
numerous patches of the Botkmtrii nit^t [chu^m i), and the 8ida 
or Abutiion (f) (Airany-m^) almg the hiichways. The hwing-ma 
was only just being sown, but the ehu-ma was well advanced. 
There were also numerous patches of p*u-U*ao, (Lepironia), and 
Ung-UiiOt (Scnpu$* capinLtris), three cuttings of both of which 
are obtained a year : after two or three years these graaaea maal 
be transplanted into new paddy-land. After each few years the 
chu'ina also becomes exhausted and requires manuring. It is 
gathered in at the same time as the kau-Uamg^ {Sorghum vufyar^y^ 
in the eighth moon. Kau-Uang and kwang-tou^ ' yellow beana,* 
were in their earliest stage, and filled vp most of the diviaiona 
between the paddy-flelda. Tobaooo was ooming on ; sweet buek* 
wheat put in an appearance here and there ; and Aon-ie'M, n tort 

* I beUere Jmneut ffmrn has been pronooneed more eorrsel. 



218 Up the Tang'tse. 

of spinaoh, tung-han ts^aij (f Sedum), hung hao (elsewhere hun^ 
8hu or 8ho)f and tung haOf a sort of celery, were the remaining 
yegetables, all in an early stage. Trees as usual ; no new ones 
obserTed. Rice everywhere. There were not very many traces 
of the poppy, though it is impossible to speak with certainty, as 
the crop was already in. Anyhow, Lung-oh*ang does not produce 
nearly so much opium as Jung-oh'ang or Yuog-ch'uan, each of 
which is on a par with Pa Hien. The salt consumed is all shut 
hwa, which is quite untaxed after leaving the wells, and sells at 
Lung-ch'ang for 28 cash. Immense numbers of coolies trooped 
along the roads, both from Lung-ch'ang eastward, and from 
Tsz-liu Ching to Lung-ch*ang, with pole-loads of salt. 

The eastern suburb is separated from the city by a branch of 
the Niu-fu Tu River, or T<o Kiang which branch here runs north 
and south beneath a bridge leading to the city gate. The road 
to Tsz-liu Ching turns off sharp to the left, just before the bridge 
is crossed, and runs for a short distance along the left bank, 
crossing by another bridge a little lower down. This branch of 
the Niu-fu Tu River is stated to come from Kwan-yin Ch*iao (in 
the District of Yuh-chih), about 150 li from Lung-ch'ang. At 
Wang-shSn P^u, five (i from Lung-ch'ang, along the Tsz-liu Ching 
road, a branch way goes off to Chia-ming Chen, 35 li from Lung- 
ch'ang, and a Sub-department of the independent Department of 
Lu Chuu. We took the other branch, and put up for the night 
in a very tolerable inn at Lung-shih Chea, 30 U from liung- 
ch'ang. The only objection to my room, was that it was lightly 
built immediately over a pig-sty ; and as pig-sties are, for sanitary 
purposes, usually built over something still worse, it may be 
imagined that my lungs were not pampered during the night. 
We crossed two small streams, one just beyond, and one some 
miles beyond this town ; and another (a good broad one) shortly 
before arriving at Wang-chia Ch'ang, 30 more 2i, all of them 
running southwards. At Kiu-fu Tu we crossed the river, 
(the boundary between the Districts of Lung-ch'ang and Fu- 
shun is five li eastward of Niu-fu Tu,) by a free ferry boat, 
many of which are plying at that point, under the superinten- 
dence of an office on the Fu-shun bank. It seems to me impossible 
that, as many Chinese say, this river can bo the same as the one 



Ihv Gient Salt IJllls. 219 

that we crossed at Lung-ch'ang; the latter roust be a tributary. la 
fact they are not the same, for the Niu-fu Tu is na?if(able. or com- 
municates with navigable rivers up to within sixty U of Ch*6ng-tu; 
that is, to a place called Krhchiang T*o, under the Kin-t*ang District 
Passengers, however, take boats at Shih Ch'iao (under Kien Chou) 
sixty li lower down ; but most passen^^ers from Ch'eng-tu for the 
Great River go by the Kia-ting Uiver. iUia-t'ien P'u is 30 H 
from Niu-fu Tu, and llt»iian T'an is 25 U more, making about 140 
in all from Lung-ch*ang ; the road is good nearly the whole way, 
though narrow ; the inns are mostly wretched ; the country unin- 
teresting ; the people civil. My room at Hbiian T*an was lightly 
built over the town sewer. A great quantity of sugar is grown 
along tbia road ; other crops as before, hemp, wheat, tall millet, 
maize, and paddy. In addition to yellow beans, I observed lii tou 
or 'green pulse,' and fan ton (? Cajanut imlicut) or 'rice pulse,' 
(both leguminous plants), just coming up. Coir,* peaches in early 
fruit, a few apricot and walnut trees, cedars, banyans, bambooa, 
fto., as before. Also a good many of the k*u lien-tstf {Melia 
at€darach)y and y^-hoh, (or Magnolia pumiia), I think I saw ooa 
ash, but neither I nor the Chinese were sure. Of flowers I reoog* 
nized both by look and name one only, the Leonurui $ibincu$, or 
yih^mu t8*ao. I also gathered a dozen specimens of wild flowera, 
the names of which I give below, and I hope shortly to be able to 
add the botanical names, f IfV^A/A-Aira, Ktco^ehianp'Ving^ 
Chith-irh'kSn, Stcan'Chiantf'(s*ao^ Luh'ch'uoh-^rh'U*aOf Hwang" 
kou't^im, Wo'Un^ Nyo'chii-p^o, Ch^in'ming-ti^ai^ 8hu%'pa^hiao^ 
ya-the-Viao^ Ye-lo-pu. I noticed a new vegetable called T'len* 
siVfi-mi, which is used in the manufacture of a wine called lao tsaOf 
and is here sold locally at 70 cash the quart. Of whaat tha usual 
kind is the siao m<f, which seems to me exactly like our English 
wheat ; but there is a larger and more bearded description calltd 
ta mi or nan me, which perhaps is barley : it will also ba rarnem* 
bered that near Mu-tuog we came across a third varitty. Wina 
waa the only thing oooveyed the way we went ; oooliea bringing 

* I should neatioii thai, hitberio, I have la ny previoas papera 
iaadrerteBlly spoken of eoir as jate. Perhaps hwang ma is jote. Sea 
ante, 

f See BoUnical List. 



220 Up tJie Tang-tse. 

salt to Lung-oh'an^ carry also two empty wine-basketa, the 
remains of their load the other way. The numerous workmen at 
Tsz-lia Ching would seem to drink almost as rauoh wine as thej 
export salt, at least in this direction. Coolies for Pih-shan, &c., 
carried no empty wine baskets. These latter said they paid 24 
cash for the 20 ounce catty at the wells, and sold it for 34 cash at 
Pih-sban. 

Instead of going part of the way to Tsz-liu Ching up the riTcr, 
as was done by Captain Gill, I went the whole way by land, stop- 
ping for early breakfast at Ean-tsz Ngao, 20 li from Hsien or 
Hsuan T*an, and half way between it and the wells. The road 
is uninteresting, at all events to one to whom travelling in Sz 
Ch'uan is no novelty. The expanses of grass in the neighbourhood 
of the well-districts, which puzzled the traveller just referred to» 
are not difficult of explanation. In the first place, so large a 
number of water-buffaloes are employed at Tsz-liu Ching, that 
fodder is purchased very readily at high rates, so that it pays 
better to grow grass than to cultivate vegetables. In the second 
place, scruples about graves and ancestors soon vanish where solid 
profit is concerned. Rice straw sells at the wells for about a half- 
penny a pound ; fresh grass a little cheaper. Enormous quantities 
of broad beans are also imported by the salt junks for the use of 
the cattle, the cost of maintaining each head of which is something 
over 300 cash a day. 

Tsz-liu Ching is a Sub-district of Fu-shun Hien and stands 
on both banks of a small river which runs into the Niu-fu Ta 
River at Tsen-chi K'ou, five It below Teng-ching Ewan. It forms 
in equilateral triangle with Fu-shun and Niu-fu Tu, all three 
places being 90 U from each other. T^ng-chiug Ewan is a large 
market-town (also under Fu-shun Hien), where trans-shipments 
of salt from the smaller into the larger junks take place. 

Judging from the appearance of the straggling villages and 
markets which together make up what is called Tsz-liu Ching, 
and judging from the number of wells, which, working or not, no 
one estimates at fewer than five thousand, though they are officially 
reported as 1,200, I should put the population down at a quarter 
of a million at the very least. The area which I saw cohered 
with boiling-sheds and well -apparatus was certainly four square 



Th4i Great Salt Wells. ttl 

Billet, and I bj no metnt saw the whole. B«fsidet, there is a Urf^e 
chai'tn^ or furtificd retrc^st upon a hill, built bj a local inaK<)*^* 
at the time uf the bhih Ta-k*ai (T*ui-p*iug) rebvUion, which it 
thickly inhabited, and bejund which there are other wells. 

The mnjurity of the wells are from 2,()(K) to 3,0t0 feet deep, 
and they all seem to be bored on the same principle. A few 
much shallower wells do not yield plentiful supplies of brine. 
The fact of some wells having both water and otners only brine, 
or only gas, seems to rt quire more explanation than has been gi? ea 
by former traTellers. According to my understanding of the 
aooounts locally given, the qunlity of the brine has nothing to 
do with the gas question, and gis may suddenly make its ap* 
pearanoe from a wvll which never ha<i any before, or the supply 
from which hsd oeased ; or it may suddenly oease after coming 
up freely for yeara. As to the wells * which have gas bot no 
brine,* this simply means that, on the first striking of the brine, 
the gas generally rushes up with such force as <.to make it im- 
poasible lor some time to put anything down the well. Though 
the mouth is not more than six inches in diameter, the force of 
the rising hydrogen, (for such a very old European reaideot in 8s 
Ch*uan aasures me it simply is), is sufficient to cut a man*s head 
or limbs clean off, or to drive an iron pan weighing oTer a ton, 
high up into the air. This gas therefore has first to be eonsumed, 
and to a great extent exhausted ; and this is done by boring small 
holes in the side of the well near the sorfaoe, and joining on to 
these holes underground bamboo tubes, which, again, can be sab* 
divided to any degree. The mouth of the well is then covered, 
and the gas distributes its force over theee tubes, the other tnda 
of which are conducted to a safe place and ignited until the foroo 
of the upruahing gas is reduced. 1 saw one well in this oonditioo. 
The gaa was earned along two main pipea, strongly eoTered with 
clay, which carried the gaa into two sets of a ioore or to of smaller 
jets, each of which had been burning night and day for a loaf 
period, and each of which, when ita power abould bave been ?•• 
duoed, Would still be able to supply perpetual fire for seTeral pant. 
The waate aecms enormous. 8ome wells which have more fire than 
their proprietora ean uae, sell the gaa to neighbouriog wella. 
Thoae jeta I aaw wtft let out at a yearly rental for tMb jet of 



^2^ Up Hit Yan^'ise, 

between Tls. 40 and Tls. 60 ; and as there were seyenty pans io 
the establishment, the owner of the iire-gas would make a hand* 
some sum out of that alone. It is only the fiercest jets of fire 
that are sufficient to boil the hard pan-silt, or kwo-pa ; the jets of 
ordinary vigour are employed in boiling the shiii hwa or granular 
salt. The gas, when in use, although it burns with a flame 
sufficient to evaporate in one day enough brine to make a six- 
hundred pound lump of salt in a three-inch thick pan, is, when 
extinguished, easily kept down with a small stone placed over 
the jet. The row of jets are extinguished ' negatively,' that is, 
gas is allowed to escape into the air through two funnels built in 
the conduit outside the boiling-shed, which funnels, too, are, when 
the jets are burning, stoppered with a pair of simple paving-stones. 
The furnace over which each pan is placed is a hole about five feet 
in diameter by six feet in depth. In the large sheds there are two 
rows of pans, thirty-five in each row, and the two gas conduits, 
joining outside into one, lead underneath the pans. The hole 
through which the gas is admitted by the jet is not more, I think, 
than half an inch in diameter. The brine trickles slowly and 
perpetually into the pans from large wooden reservoirs, covered 
with clay, resembling huge * pipes ' of wine. There are about 
half-a-dozen pans to each reservoir, and the brine enters the 
reservoir at the top along a conduit leading from the well. The 
bamboo half pipes which conduct the trickling brine from a hole 
or tap in the side of the cask or reservoir to each pan, are movable, 
so that the supply can be checked at any moment. One man 
appears to look after each cask and its pans. The wages are high, 
— six to seven strings of cash a month, and food found ; — say £2 a 
month in all. The day's work is 24 hours, and each workman 
rests and works on alternate days. One pan is not quite able to 
produce a pao^ or pan-ful a day. To take one boiler as an in- 
stance ; seventy pans produced fifty /^ao a day. A pao of granular 
salt is 220 catties ; so that about 11,000 catties, or, say, seven tons 
a day, would be about the production of the place. The salt, when 
turned into hampers, bites and coheres, and is sawn into four 
triangular portions, two of which form the load of the numerous 
coolies we met between Pih-sban and Tsz-liu Chiog. The price 
at the isao'/ang^ or boiler's, is 18 cash the catty ; but the /lAiw 



The Great Salt ireils. 223 

of six cash brtogt the cost price to the coolie up to 24. The brine 
it not all of the tame quality ; the term han-t^ou or * degree of 
■altnest' is used to distiui^uish. The blackest briae is the best, 
and the yellowest the worst. Twenty per cent, or more of salt 
is got from the best, and ten or less from the worst. The price 
of the brine varies from one to three mic? the titn of about 200 
catties. At one boiler*s, I was told that twelve tun or loads of 
brine were required to proiuce 21) catties of htoa siit. This 
would leave (at the rate of twj maoe or 300 cish a load of brine) 
about 700 cash profit on each pan per diem, out of which the pay 
of the man, the cost of hiring the tiro j>;t, and the wear and tear 
must be deducted. The boilers sell (under the present system to 
the Government) by the pao ; but dtty pao make the warrant or 
yin^ which is the unit usually used in the junk carrying trade. The 
kwo-pa, or pan salt, is evaporated until it becomes as hard as stone, 
and each pan turns out a cake weighing over 500 catties ; this is split 
into four quarters, and each quarter, with some fragments added, 
forms a pao, or 160 catties of pan-salt, such as I saw on the Sung- 
k'an River. I could not tiad out exactly how long it took to mike 
a oake of ktco-pa : indeed it was most difficult to extract any 
precise information from anybody ; and as it was I worked myself 
np frequently into a heated state in hammering out the little I 
got. Apparently, about half the total production of T&z-liu Ching 
is pan, and half granular salt. Bdtwcen each row of pans or 
furnaces runs a lane, on the level of the jets, and six fn*et below 
the ordinary ground, i.e, the ' U >or,* for the ground and the fl-jor 
are convertible terms in China. The heat fnm the furnaces is of 
course very great, and in summer must be nearly insufferable. 
The roof however is high, and built overlapping, so as to well 
ventilate the place. I did not notice much smell from the burning 
gas, but the fresh brine and the unburnt gas both smelt to me 
like a mixture of rotten eggs and coal gas. The brine, in the 
eoorse of boiling, out of total solid matter produced, gives one half 
of tau'pa or ' gall-cake,* and one half of sweet salt. I did not 
discover the term gtll-oake, nor did I see the material until I bad 
quitted the town ; but I suspect that it is the same thing as the 
p*aOf or scum, which forms on the top of the boiling brine, and the 
secretion of which is facilitated by pouring in about half-a-galloQ 



22 Ji, Up the Yang'tse. 

a day of toa chiang or tou-hwa^ (the ourd and whej of beans nn- 
separated). On the other hand, I was distinctly told at the wells 
that the p^ao was boiled ag^aio, and yielded a fair proportion of 
salt, whereas the tan-pa is acrid and uneatable. It is sold at the 
wells at six cash the catty, and is used to separate the ourd from 
the whey of bean-juice; to *bind' plaster and piint, &o , &o« 
Thus it is give and take with the bean-juice and the brine. 

The wells are very interesting^. A pair of immense shears, 
patched, shored up, and steadied by stays and guys, stand over 
the well mouth. At the top of the shears is a wheel or pulley, 
from which descends the bamboo rope which supports the bucket. 
The bucket is a long bimboo or lengths of bamboos almost as high 
as the shears. It is strengthened all along by having hempen 
oord wound round convolutions cut round its skin, and has iron 
rings at the two ends. The bottom of the bucket is pared off and 
and cut into four prongs, I suppose, so as to protect the valve and 
present a small surface in descending : also, perhaps, to facilitate 
picking up in case of accident. The valve is a strong piece of 
skin, opening inward, and can just be felt by a finger thrust up 
between any one of the prongs. When the bucket is raised, a man 
lifts up the valve, not with his finger, (which would be difficult 
if not impossible), but with a sort of scoop or trowel fitting round 
the bamboo and having on its inner surface a nail or spike for the 
purpose of running between the pron^j^s. Even with this instru- 
ment the lifting requires an eff>rt, for there are 250 pounds of 
water, in a tube not thicker than a brandy bottle, pressing upon 
the valve. The end of the bucket is veered over a tub in the 
ground hard by, which leads through a conduit, and through a 
rough filter, to a large pit or reservoir kept under lock and key. 
Hence the water is sold, and hence conducted to the boilers by 
conduits, most of which work up*)n the simple diffdrence of level ; 
for the place is very much cut up and hilly. I did not see 
any of the other brine-raising wheels described by Captain 
Gill, but they are evidently built on the same principle as the 
irrigating wheel of Nan-ch'uan, which I have explained in another 
place. The rope which ascends to and goes over the wheel which 
I saw descends at a (double) angle of about fifteen degrees to the 
ander face of another wheel about six feet in diameter, and having 



a hollow iron tiic. From this the rope runn hjn/i>nlally, from 
lir:*t to lunt always in the iiame direction, to the c ire urn fere nv^e of 
a decMg'juiil wheel Aurik in the grounl. Tins wheel is built 
fxactly on the princij'le of a tvctotum. One tn 1 of the axle, (a 
broAt.1 beam with iron-coverril eni-), ^inkH a foot deep into an iron 
Kocket, and the other end runs up into a simil ir socket Kt into a 
huge beam mado fast t'» t)ie huiMiu^ j;<.nvr.illy. Fr^in tho axlo 
run out soveril Kore of 8p>ki>*(, one ab tve the olht-r (but not so as 
to be in a line with each othtT) ; and porpf'udicuUr posts run up 
from the o.it* r did of th^>»«; Mpolc*?-* ti a number of lar^e sp^jkes at 
top and botNiiu which compKte the tetotuiUf and of course aUo 
join on to the axle. Tho dtplh ot each well is easily ascertained 
by counting the uurubtr of times the nipe j^oes round the teetotum, 
taking the diameter, and multiplying by three. An arrangement 
of bars, tied together at each two or three alternate spokes, pcrmita 
of a buH'alo being harnessed by a rnpo trace to a pr.itruding pole, 
and four bufTjilies are required to each tcetoturn. Kach builalo has 
a driver, who bi labours the wretched animal with a pieoo of rope 
held in one hand (ind clings to bis tail with the other. The buffdlo 
has also a cord halter running through his nostril, and so tied to 
the wheel that he gets a tweak if be lags behind. At first the 
animals walk at a briok pace round and round, but, as the work 
progresses, they are egged on into a trot, and it is really a painful 
sight to bee the great patient brutes panting and puffing, labour* 
ing and striiiiin^, with the exertion. It takes about twelve 
minutes to haul a bucket up *2,uOO feet, and a series of skio 
tongues and straw markers dintributed over the last hundred yards 
of rope, as on a I >^-line, gives the necessary warning to the 
drivers, who then slip two of tho buif-iloes and tiui^h up with 
the remaining pair. Thu emptying of the bucket only occupies a 
few fei.c»nds ; Insh bullaloes are harncsi<cd to every second turn, 
and so the Work goes on. I'ho huge teetotum wheel of course 
revolves Hiih terrible speed and force as the bucket gains impetus 
in its descent, but a brake, c.tlled a ma mci\ in the shape of flat 
bamboos gradually tapering into a rope at the two ends, is made 
f a.>t to tho walU or any other secure place, whilst the flat part 
ruui half or three-quarttrs round the wheel. When there are 
• •iil\ I i:\\ '. jN Kft, u e>.dic in charge sits on or presses this brake^ 



^26 Up the I'an^-tse. 

which at onoe checks and soon stops the wheel. I inquired, and 
was told that the wheel never caught fire. Each set of buffaloes 
hauls up two buckets in succession, and is harnessed-to four or five 
times during the 24 hours. Once a day the animal is taken to tbe 
river, where he takes his pleasure after the day's work. The 
buffaloes, as well as the shippons, are beautifully clean. They are 
well fed on broad beans and straw or grass, and cost between 300 
and 400 cash a day to feed. A robust young buffalo is worth 
between Tls. 30 and Tls. 40 ; between the ages of 7 and 10 years, 
from Tls. 7 to Tls. 20. They never breed in the well entablish- 
ments. Their refuse is carefully collected and mixed up with 
straw, and sells for four cash the cake of about (I should think) 
two catties. These cakes hang about the insides and outaides of 
the sheds and houses, line the highways, and are generally ubiqui - 
tous. The bamboo lines which haul up the bucket are twisted 
like hemp ropes, and spliced with strong hide thongs. When 
they break, the bucket or line is fished for with a grapnel, of whieh 
numbers are kept of every imaginable size and shape, so as to lose 
no chance of catching the lost bucket. If it cannot be caught 
there is nothing for it but to hammer it away in pieces, like the 
rock through which the well is bored. A steel or iron hammer, 
with a long bulbous top ingeniously fitted into a split bamboo, 
the ends of which are then tied round its thin end, is suspended 
like the bucket ; except that in this case the bamboo rope is simply 
a succession of fiat strips, which, probably, as in the case of the 
ma 7neif withstand jerks better than twisted cord. I was present 
when one of these hammers was hauled up ; it had been consider- 
ably blunted, and was at once taken away to be repaired. The 
end is like a closed fist with two short horns. A short bucket was 
then sent down to bring up the debris. I understood the man to 
say that this well had been boring for 70 years, at the rate of two 
inches a day. But there is no uniformity in the time taken to bore 
through. 

The cedar-wood lining which Richthofen refers to, and which 
Captain Gill did not see, is in this wise. Just below the surface, 
and extending 300 feet down, there is such a lining, the object of 
which is to prevent the i/(W(; 8?tui\ or * positive water,* or * earth 
water,' which percolates through the earth, from descending the 



TUe a rati ^Vi// 11 V//.v. S37 

Well and mixing with the yi/i shui, or * negative wat«r/ or water 
from the DtthtT regions, i.e. the brine. The top of the well it 
always capped with a stone or tiag ; and, moreorer, there ia an 
open interval below the flog top extending a few feet lower down, 
through which the gas is conducted horizontally ; so that this 
cedar-wood lining is not often vibible. The largest well employs 
150 buffaloes, and the smallcBt boiler has but two or three pans. 
These pans 1 have already alluded to in my account of the K4- 
kiang Uiver. The boiler is obliged to return the iron, or, as ht 
puts it, ' he buys the pan only, not the iron ' for Tls. 40. Some 
said Tls. 2o ; but perhaps different thicknesses are required for 
different kinds of salt ; this is a point upon which 1 omitted to 
enquire. 

Kung Tsing is a Sub-district of the Magistracy of Yung Ilien, 
and is live miles above Tsz-liu Ching. Its production is unim- 
portant as compared with the latter, and, besides, there is no gas ; 
eoal has to be burnt. The supply of brine at Tk2-liu Ching being 
apparently inexhaustible, (though individual wells occasionally 
^^y up), it is not very clear why part of the Kung Tsing 
brine is brought at enormous expense down to Tsz-liu Ching for 
evaporation. The only explanation I could get was quite a Chi- 
nese one ; that the District had to eonsume a certain quantity 
of brine every year, in order that the Oovernment might ooUeot 
the fixed tax upon it. The brine is not brought down in boats, aa 
stated by Captain Gill,— for the river is obstructed by rocks, and 
quite unnavigable just above and beyond Tsz-liu Ching,— but 
is carried down along numerous bamboo conduits, tha tractioo of 
which has cost £3,000 apiece. Pan- salt from Kung Tsing it 
brought down to Tsz-liu Ching on mules and horses, and than 
shipped into boats. The dams of which Captain Oill speaks ara 
lower down the river, and answer the purpose of our locks. Tbraa 
of them are of stone, and a larger number of wood, like thoae ia 
the Saune at Ijona These are kept shut, in order to allow the 
water to collect ; and every five days a dett of junks, --from fifty 
to a hundred or mora, — starta from Tsz-lia Ching in order to paat 
the Weirs {yen) at the tame time, and thus economise the watar. 
I happened to arrive at Yen T*an or Yuan T'an, (45 /• from Tei- 
liu Ching). on my way bark, just at the moment that the dam at 



22 S Up the I'lUig-tsc. 

that point was opened {k^ai yen). A liundred junks or so were 
)ying in the river abuve the daro, the level of which was about a 
foot above the river below. The river and the dam were about 100 
yards" across, and the flood-gate consisted of one or two logs, which 
were lifted by a single coolie. The water rushed down and the 
junks went with it one after the other in Indian lile, or, as the 
Chinese'.say, * as the geese fly, and the flshes swim.* These jaaks 
are hideous flat-bottomed craft, each carrying three yin^ or about 18 
tons of salt, and not drawing more than a foot or so of water, if 
that ; even then they require lighters to take part of their cargo 
through the flood-gate. At Teng;-ohing Ewan, five li above the 
point where the Tsz-liu Ching River enters the Fu-shun or T^iu-fii 
Tu Kiver, the salt is transhipped into the largest-sized junks. The 
freight from Tsz-liu Ching to T6ng-ching Kwan (only 100 li or so) 
is 70,000 cash the tsaiy or * cargo,' of 450 pao^ or packages, of 
granular salt. The well catty is a sort of baker's dozen, that is, 
10 catties are really 12; so that 5i0 times 220 catties, or, say 75 
tons of salt are carried for, say, sixty dollars ; — a very high 
freight. But the quickest passage occupies Ave days, and some- 
times a fleet of junks has to wait weeks for water ; so that, after 
all, the rate is not excessive. The freight from Tong-ching Ewan 
to Lu Ohou on the Great River is 120 to 200 cash the pao for 
granular salt, and about 25 per cent, less for pan-salt. A Uai of 
pan-salt is distributed over four well junks ; and the weight of 
each ts'Jii is twelve yin of 50 pao^ each pao weighing 167 catties 
gross, or 160.} net delivered at Ch'ung-k'ing; so that in each case 
the ^sfli is the same, namely about 100,OCO catties. The largest 
Great River junks cannot carry more than one tsai of salt. The 
real profits made by the boilers, they are of course not likely to 
disclose ; however, one of them informed me that he considered 
himself lucky if he made a clear Tls. 5 the yin^ or, say, a cash a 
pound. He turned out over 200 yin a year. Tls. 1,500 a year 
would be a large Chinese fortune, but it must be remembered that 
these boiling houses are large family vested interests, the estimates 
on which are matters for cyclic rather than annual calculation. 
According to him, the wells of Tsz-liu Ching were known to K*ung 
Ming 2,0-0 years ago. The two great owning families are now the 
/./ and the Tf '</////, who own a great rainy wells ami b.)ilera. I 



Ihr Urrnf Snit Wilts. J.'.'^ 

}j;ipjnnfd to cross-tjui sJinn both a \\\tmj and a Li. The above 
intunuutiuii is chittly lri>rn /./. The ir.i///, in whose ehtablishment 
I wttH, h.iJ lo pans, which produciMl uho'it 2<) yin a month. Half 
his pins w» re for pan-salt, and hilt f«»r ;;ranul ir. He slid he sold 
hi» p.iii-s4lt to thb (jov« rnuiciit at fr»fn TU. \}\\ to TU. 100 the yin. 
Tills ii about ont' <^>iart(T of the price ot the Aiinc salt wo saw 
fctllinj^ ut \Va-ch'uan in Kwei C'h«jU. 

liibtiiid ''t ;;oinji: to T>z-liii Chinj? direct fn»m Lunjf-ch'anij, 
Tou may ijo mi l''u->h'in, th«^ staj^ns biinff L-j-tsz T'an, 20; Fu- 
chii Th'i.i », 1> ; Tui-rhi I S/, :J0 ; Kaii-!»hih K'an, 30; the ferry 
un the Ictl bulk, *J0 ; and acrosn to Fu-ahun, 5 ; 120 /i in all, pro- 
ceeding thence to T^z-lill Chin;^ the way wo camo back. Wo 
p.i>bed Th'/-pa N^ao, 18 ; 8ha-p*in^, 12; Yiiin-t*an, lo; Chang- 
chia Chin,:, 20; here cross in boats to the left bank of the riyer 
to Fii-j-hin, 1*0. Chint(-chii Chinj^ is lo /i from Tt ng-ching 
Kwan. On the way we met Kico-ath^ or p»'Wter carry in»j the shapo 
of the pans in which it was smelted: this is the best kind of Vim 
N.in piwler or, rathtr, tin: it comes by way oi Sui Fu, where the 
price ii 1<>0 ci-th the catty. We also m"t num tous men and 
anirnali carry in.^ b.Mns and straw to the WclU, and several coolies 
with loads of nu'lirine, t^ivn dtju/f ( \fjmniyittt iun'thut)^ tn*<iny- 
cftu/i^* {.llritrfyhihU'M rubra f)^ both of which are said to como rid 
Ch*un;;-k*in^ d »wn the Ho Chou Uiver from the northern part of 
the rruvinc**. li'twecn Chan^-chia Ching and Fu-shun the half- 
way station is Ts'ao-tien P'u. Fu-sbua is also 10 // across by 
land to Tciig-chiog Kwan. 

At one of the country towns we met an old lady and her son who 
were tramping all the way to Lin-shni Ilien beyond Ho Chou. They 
had no ca^h, and the old damo oir.red h< r umbrella for sale. Such 
an ivent ciu^ed a great deal of int^-rest ut the inn, and a oonsider- 
able time was npont in examining the 'points' of the umbrella, 
and appraising its value. Kich villager overhauled it with a 
tlioughtful air, and give his opinion. Finally, it was decided to 
bo Worth hixpence. Then the btrldamc wanted to know if sixpence 
would tak«' h'.r and h^r son to Liashui, seven days* journey, and 
t!je public Voice announced to her that twopence half-peony a-day 

' llj-' ht-t. i-i • • •-■ i.'. . ■ ^« 1^ • Oil •» fi ijii Ms"* -haii ill ('!.•■ KiAo % 



i- ^ J •, .*, ** ^ • '^ . '.'' 

in'.^a^ 31 iHC vi ^ri^rv^'^ ^iiutL ir ihro^jiei ji %\m& wit. Just 

tioa, *j&0t jvnziL ioilrd -.'iS 1. La.Tia if cItit, lad iri»«ii i: Sii be 

«^(»1 U^j, wui jr>mA nviciiiir rwn.iri: ▼!. lii n^ioa*:. • jay « boC mm 
yj\ iix*/ Oa iai;^iLftr ;«u5JL*ii!i, I «.▼ m. let -tij j«iLL:*iT kioilcd 
Mil '^i \kM eooir '« j is. iiioxac^ery alihtiri^a i2i)ft vu luC SV3^ t» 
fiUroftiM; tilt i&a w> a. ;rr%a:6r ext*a: tlijia 1. np •)< tea. Sack 
•ttft«i jtr« Ofit eyanua 'vit^iia nj ex^risOx^r; ia Chiiu. Yooa^ 
WMa«ft Wfjioid. zat ikAn tba^ ^ZU&ziiiaM, Q^^tLZJis Zt^j ire 
cc le«« aader & Ub^M , bat old Uiiea »eea to be *jnAt^ wi:k 
d4!ftr«tieey ntlur, I iAaej^ on i&M'ia: ox tb«ir 1^ tkia of tkexr 
MIL la fiet, old wo««ii ire a^ raeaa p^ncot in Cbins, for tliej 
•xiet ill Uukt is dot to both 1^ in 1 ii^x, lai ire not bj in j 
i e< o t niblj to b« noddled with. The rLIi^rs know this well, 
nod ke«p then in bind is 1 rtsirre force, or 1 bt^ ^nn, to be 
Vroogttt out onlj on the gnreit occulons. An old w^unin with 
n pnil in her bnnd, and 1 tongue well pnctided in binngne, has 
hmm known to rout eren 1 dignified ofiiciil in hU chiir ; ind 
within time to which the short memorj of Earopein residents in 
China reachetb, a taotai and a Consul have been igoomioionsly 
drifcrn from the field by an incient virago thos equipped. 

The Tillagers sod townsmen between Laog-ch*ang, Tsz-lia 
('hltifii and Fu-fthuo are gentle and inoffensive, but thej begin 
to get curious as s^Kin as ever jou leave the grand trunk road ; the 
Inns, Ux), become filthy in like proportion. At Hsien T*in my 
roi;m, as 1 have said, was built over the open town sewer, with no 
Mooring but loose boards; 1 could see the black and reeking ooze 
down below. 

Fu-shun is a busy-looking city on the right bank of the Niu- 
fu Tu Kivor, and subject to the Prefecture of Sd-chou. Sugar 
and winu, (besides salt), scorn to be its chief articles of trade ; 
thoni is not much opium grown in the District. Tobacco from 
Hi i'tt, (tho plain of Ch'6ng.tu, as Nan Pa is that of Sui-lin), 

r from Nci-kiang, and salt from Tbz-liu .Ching are the chief 
'award fruights. Cotton from Ch'ung-k'ing, and coal from 



Ihe Great Salt Wtlls. 231 

Tarious places on the riyer bound upward to Kung: Tsing:, Fa-thnn, 
Tsz Chou, and Nei-kianf^ (where there is no ooal) were the chief 
upward freights. There seems to be no iron nearer than the KM- 
kiang River, from Kiang K*oa at the mouth of wh'.ch all the iron 
consumed in this locality comes. The immense trade in salt pant 
is conducted as follows. The iron caster lays down the pans, 
weighing 1,203 catties apiece, at prices yarying from Tls. 40 to 
Tls. t>0, according to prevailing rates. The purchaser undertakes 
to return the pans gratis when worn out, and the caster pays the 
freight back. It requires sixteen coolies to carry one pan from 
the boat to the wells, and for this purpose thick beams are nsed, 
to which the pan is slung. Oypsum is imported from Ifei Chou, 
(180 /i from Ch*ong-tu), where it costs two cash the catty ; at Fa- 
shun it sells for four. All sorts of junks ply on the river, except 
the crooked sterns from Kung-t*an and the large yellow Sha Shih 
craft. There is a land route from Fu-shun to Lu Chou, at least 
as far as Fu Shih, 30 li above Lu Chou. The stages are Ch'in- 
shan Ting, 4*; Ta-t'uu Clidn, 30; Hwai-td Ch6n, 30; and Fa 
Shih, 40 /i, or about 1(^0 /i in all, some of the li being Mong.' I 
took the water route the whole way, in order to see the river. It 
is a tine stream of about the calibre of the Ho Chou River ; the 
rapids are comparatively harmless, and the current moderate. 
The water is, according to the extremes of season, twelve feet 
higher and lower than when I passed down. The first rapid it 
Ch'ang-yau T^an, about half a mile b«low Fu-shan; then the 
river turns south at a rapid called Pan-pien Sz, about two milet 
luwer. A little further down, on the right bank, is Tson-ohi 
K*ou, where the Tsz-liu Ching River enters this. Delow the 
embouchure there are a few Man-tsz Tung or aboriginal oaves io 
the rocks on the right bank. The tirst village of any sixe it 
Ilwang-hwa llao on the lift bank, thirty /• by land from Fa- 
shun. Ten li further down is the rapid of Niu-p*i T'an ; a little 
lower, that of San-mu l*an, with some rocks below ; and then on 
the right bank the village and small unnavigable stream of 
Uwang-t*ien Ch'i. From this point downwards there are several 
placet where abundance oi coal is produced ; it mast be dirt oheap, 
for at TftZ-lia Ching it sells at two cash the catty, notwithsUnd- 
ing the difficult rivtr carriage. Though there it no coal at 






U]f Hi'': Yaii^-ih*:. 



Tfcz Chou or Xiu-kiang, yet tber-; is at Wti-j-um HieOy aad 
alfeo in some pir's of Yur.^ Iliea ; but, as there is do riTer 
avaiiable, this c^il, I'fiVa^h c:>5;r by, is not iapirted intj 
Kun;^ Tsia;^ or >\i-kianif. Fiitcca /i below Hwang-tMea 
Cli'i ib the rapid of T*.vh-lu:-t*z, iLe first, w far, which 
(If-hi-rv'-s the LarL'-' at all ; and a wr*:-ck bd-jw shews thit it may 
be dari;(<;rou'j. Pi-p'a Cb'ana: is a piitaresiqie market tjwn oa 
the left bank, We by woit^r fr/m Fa shun. Shih-hwui Ch*i, oa 
the n^'ht batik, is LiO //by water an 1 G) by lin-l from the same 
city, f I' re the btr^-am whifj!i j iins oar riv'ir is navigable for 25 /i, 
but all car^o (chi* fly cmi) brju^ht down has to be transhipperd at 
the mouth, where the stream is kept from running into the Fa- 
ahun Ui?er by a yin or w-ir similar to that at Teag-ching Ewan, 
opened, probably, when the Fi-shun Uiver is at its highest, 
lyjwer do WD, at the rapid of Pe-ma Wei, there are gold washings 
on Violh banks of the river; and, lower still, a doable-moathed 
rapid called Shwanjj-kwan-t^z. Fifteen U below Shih-hwai, on 
the ri;;$ht bank, i-i the stronj^hold {Chui-tsz) of P'u-ngan Chai, with 
the rapid of K\v m-yin T*an. Half a mile lower down, also on the 
right bank, is the market-town of Chao-hwa Chen, which ranks as 
the first fair {Ch^amj) of Fu-shun District. A mile or two below 
this, there is a really serious rapid called Shih-kou-tsz, running 
at the rate of ei^^ht or ten knots ; it is made a little dangerous by 
certain rocks Cilled Lien-hwa Shih, lying in mid-stream half a 
mile lower down. The banks of the river are comparatively low so 
iur, the hills, yellow and red sandstono, seldom exceeding 300 feet 
in height. In some places there are large and almost flat tracts 
where the area or bid of the river is very broad, with large banks 
or islands between its straggling chmnels. The scenery is pictur- 
esque', soft, and n-)t in the least wild ; some places are very like the 
Thames at Richmond or K'?w, substituting vegetables and young 
crops of milhft, sugar, etc , for grass; and bamboos, oranges, firs, 
banyans, willows, etc., for tho w«;ll-known trees of the Thames. 
The water, at this time of the year at least, is muddy, but not 
quite so ochreous and oily looking as that of the Yang-tsz. 

On the left bank, somj little distance below Li^n-hwa Shih, is 
a Ruiall stroiim, (p«Th ips the one we cr.jssed near Li-shih (Jhcn), 
not naviguM*' loi* anything l)ut ^^ampan^ : and, near it, two very 



The Great Salt UWs. 255 

picturesque looking ttroogholdt otUed Waa-oh*u&n Cliai and Fa- 
t'ou Chai, both bailt within recent years at a time when Sz Cb*uaD 
was overrun by rebels. Wa anchored for the first day at Hwai-t£ 
Chdn. Below this place the river becomes more tortuous, and the 
rapids more serious ; hut nothing we saw all the way down to this 
point would count as a third-class Tang-tsz rapid, not to mention 
those dreadful falls of the Kung-t*an Ri?er. But they grow worse 
when the water ia low, and at all times give difficulty to th« 
trackers, who are obliged to do a great deal of wading at shallow 
bends. I-ho Chdn is the last town belonging to Fu*shnn on the 
right bank ; just below, is the chief rapid of the river appropriately 
called the * Great Rapid' or Ta T*an ; a creek on the right bank 
marks the boundary between Lu Chou and Fu-shun Hien. A 
little lower down, on the left bank, is Flsiang-p'i Ch'ang, belong- 
ing to Lu Chou. Opposite this place, I saw some fishing oormoranta 
(ta-yii niao or lao tea), but did not witness their diving operations* 
They are said to come from the wild lands of Yiin Nan and Kwei 
Chow, notably from the Wu-chiang River in the latter Province. 
There is a well-known place on the St Ch'aan and Yiin Nan 
frontier called Lao-wa T'an, which perhaps may have some oon- 
nection with the catching of these birds. A very awkward com- 
bination of rapid and rocks occurs at Tang-hang-ma-t'ah, below 
which the river sweeps south, and then west, to the rocky rapid 
of Tung T'an, where it again tarns south-east. There were 
several wrecks below this rapid, and one junk which waa asoend- 
tng broke loose as we passed down. There are a number of very 
pretty water birds on this river, called $hHi'koh'tn or 'water 
pigeons.' They are of a light dove oolonr, and in shape something 
between a thrash and a swallow. I shoald mention that I aaw a 
kingfisher in the paddy fields near Lnng-chHing. In none of the 
cities or market-towns did I see game of any aort expoaed for aale, 
not even rabbita. A Chinaman eeems to deeire nothing fleehly 
beyond his pork. The vegetation oontinnea the aame all the way 
down the river, tobacco being amongst the most important of the 
young automn crops. The hot apell of April, when the wheat, 
opium, peaa, and beans are gathered in, gives the oountry the 
appearance of autumn, but the rains of May soon bring down the 
ttmpirature, and the ncwirplanted millet, sugar, tobacco, etc.. 



234 Up the Yang-tse, 

change the face of the country into spring once more. A consider- 
able number of young wan mu trees (? Laurus Szechuanensis), had 
been recently planted on the bank near Tung T'an ; it is largely used 
in ship-building for making pegs and stanchions. The next two 
rapids were Li-chih T'an, where there were more wrecks, and Niu- 
t'an Pa, both a mile or two above Fu-shib, opposite which town are 
three rapids in succession called Fu-shih San-t'an. Although they 
are somewhat formidable in appearance, yet upward junks seem to 
find sufficient water close to the bank, where the currents are less 
Tiolent. The river which we crossed at Lung-ch*ang and Yung- 
eh'ang comes out here. Like most Chinese rivers it has innumer- 
able local names: here it is called the Fu-shih Kiver, and the 
Tung-tsz River. All the boatmen insist that it goes round by both 
Lung-chang and Yung-ch'ang and comes from the Niu-Kiang 
District, where it is called the Ch*ing-lung Ho. Navigation is 
entirely obstructed a few li above Fu-shih at Fu-tsz Chiang. The 
Tillage of Lien-yii Tung on the right bank, fifteen li by land from 
Lu Chou, is remarkable for the entire absence of smoke-stacks, 
there being some superstition or tradition regarding fire which 
forbids their construction. At this point, I observed very exten- 
sive orange and lungan plantations, {Nephelium lotigana)^ on both 
banks, and also large tracts from which the poppy-stalks had not 
yet been plucked. On the left bank lower down, separated from 
the main stream by a bank or islet, is a very striking cataract 
rushing down the rocky bank at an angle of twenty degrees ; it is 
as broad as a moderate-sized river, and in the distance I first 
mistook its foam for a bed of chalk ; it goes by the name of Yii- 
chien T*an. Just below this, is a very prosperous tile factory. 
The Lung-tung Kwan now comes in sight on the right bank. This 
is a sort of stockade, resembling a city wall, built upon a hill com- 
manding the western land approach to Lu Chou, and bearing much 
the same relation to that place that the Fu-t'u Ewan does to Ch*ung- 
k*ing. The high-road to Nan-k'i, (180 It), and Sui Fu, (300 &*), 
passes through the portal of tliis stockade. The river now passes 
Lu Chou on the right hank, and runs east into the Yang-tsz, but 
the left bank continues straight on, in such a way that the Qreat 
River, coming from the south, has the appearance of being a 
tributary of the Fu-shun River. Lu Chou extends upwards a 



Ihe Great Salt }\W$. 235 

ooaple of miles along the left bank of the Yang-tis where innamer- 
ablo salt and other jnnki are moored. The situation of La Chon, 
and the pagodas in ihe yicioity Tery much call to mind the site of 
its riyal Ho Chou. Lu Ohoa is an independent Department, and 
* governs ' the DiHtricts of Ho-ktang, Na-k*i, Kiang-an, and the 
' Nine Tribes ' near Sii-yung ; it is the great centre of the OoTem- 
ment Salt Trade, both the K*ien-wei and Fu-shan branches of 
which make this their dep^t. The difference between an indepen- 
dent Department and a Prefecture appears to be that, besides 
gofeming fewer Districts, the former goTerns itself directly, and 
not through a ihou hien or ' prefectural district,' like a Prefecture. 
There are twenty-one lioentiatea allotted, two out of erery three 
years, to Lu Chou. The best inn was so filthy that I was glad to 
accept the hospitality of an amiable priest who has a house in the 
town. The tranquillity of a retired house is inexpressibly soothing 
after a few weeks of dirt and noise. If there were only a spot 
tweWe feet square, no matter where, affording peace, light, and 
quietness after the buffetting of each day's trayel, the natural 
beauties of Sz Ch^uan would amply compensate for the short- 
comings of its inhabitants, but the e?er-recurring prospect of a 
foul room in a fouler atmosphere, gradually makes one sicken at 
the Tery thought of approaching a town. 

At Lu Chou my followers went into mourning to the extent 
of hauling down colours, that is, removing the red tassels from 
their hats. At Fu-shun we had already heard that a Dowager- 
Empress had * ascended to a dintance on phoanix-back,' but it 
seemed to be the opinion there that it was the Empress-Mother 
of the late Emperor ; at Lu Chou, however, both Chinese and 
foreigner agreed that it was her Majesty the Empreu Ts'z-an. 
The officials had unshorn pates, and wore whit« aackcloth robety 
besides swathing their chairs in black. It will hardly be believed 
that there is a printed foreign newspaper in 8z Ch*uan ; yet, for 
the second time, I was present when the * French mail * arrived iu 
the shape of a printed sheet about six inches by four, announcing 
amongst other things that the French had sent 9,000 troops 
to Tunis with a view of establishing their preponderance. This 
' journal,' printed at Ch'ung-k'ing, has a circulation of about ona 
hundred, and does great credit to the energetic oditiir. 



236 Up the Yang-tse. 

Trayellers who object to waiting a week or so in order to strike 
a bargain should be warned against trusting {to boat oonvejanoe 
down the river. As the journey down takes less than a quarter of 
the time occupied by the journey up, the boatmen charge for both 
ways, in order to recoup themselves in anticipation of not finding 
a job lower down. My boatman had come from the Capital, and 
had been bargaining for many days with a local official for a trip 
back, when I stepped in and took him down another 150 miles. 
Anyone who has a fair pretext for demanding official assistance 
can easily get a boat ^ sealed to him ' for next to nothing, {fing 
ch'uan) ; but, under this system, he is passed on from District to 
District, and must repeat the operation at each city ; besides, the 
corvee practice is very hard upon the boatmen, and not at all to 
the liking of most Europeans. 

Leaving Lu Chou on a nice dull morning, we passed a squat 
five-storied pagoda on the right bank, near which the * lower 
examination office,' in the shape of three large paasenger-boats 
moored abreast, is established. Duties, likin, etc., are paid at the 
town or central Customs Station, and certificates are examined 
above or below the town, according to which way the junk is 
going. On the left bank are some extensive iron cooking-pan 
establishments ; the iron for the manufacture of which comes from 
or vid Tung-ning ; so that it would appear Eiang-k'ou has not the 
entire monopoly of the trade. The territorial taotai^ who resiaes 
at Lu Chou, and has jurisdiction over the Sii-chow Prefecture, the 
independent Departments of Tsz Chou and Lu Chou, and the two 
Sub-prefectures of Sii-yung and Lui-po, is called the Yung-ning 
Tao. As the District of Yung-ning is the sole one under the 
independent Sub-prefecture of Sii-yung, that part of the world 
would seem to be over-governed. The Kien-ch*ang Tao^ who rules 
over the west and the south wedge of Sz Ch*uan, also resides at 
Ya-chou, away from his titular city. Below the pan factories, a 
good flight of steps from the river marks the commencement of the 
land route to Ch<ung-k4ng, which passes Li-shih Chan (90 /i), and 
Yung-ch*uan, 90 more; or 180 /i in all to the last-named city. 
The river now sweeps round to the ea^t and we pass the rapid of 
Li T^an, which looks as if there were some unpleasant rocks 
beneath it. At this time of the year (middle of May) the water is 



Hie Great Sail Udells, i37 

called kwo-lUmpt and is aboat fifteen feet higher and lower than 
in the winter and summer seasons, respectirelj. Junks of all sizes 
and descriptions were (mssing up and down, some of them with as 
man J as fiftj trackers. Cotton from Ch'ung-k*ing, silk from Kia- 
ting, and drugs from yarious places seem to be amongst the chief 
articles of import and export ; but Lu Choa is rather a distributing 
depot than a trading mart. It used to be situated sixtj /i lower 
down the rirer ; but, in oonsequence of a hiao-Uz-nffan or ' case of 
murder of a parent bj his offspring,' it was (it is said) remoyed 
during the Ming Dynasty to its present site. We pass a number 
of Man-tsz Tung in the rocks or hills of the right bank, and then 
turn north to the triple rapi 1 uf Wa-jan 8an-t*an. The scenerj 
ia soft, penceful, and green. No high hills are to be seen ; the 
banks are oultiyated to within a few feet of the water's edge, 
(which shews that the rise cannot, at anj rate always, be yerj 
much higher) ; the hills are of red sandstone and oorered with 
Taried shrubs and wood ; the air is sweet and balmj ; the water 
soft, oily-looking, and muddj, but excellent and wholesome 
drinking. 

The first yillage of anj size that we pass is Hsin-ln K<oa« 
after which we come in sight of Lao (Old) Ln Chou. Veetigee of 
the old wall still remain, with the skeleton of a gate which moat 
look yerj weird in the moonlight The site is a oommandlng 
promontorj round which the rirer yeers to the east, the current 
carrying the boats far away round to the other side of the rirer, as 
though nature wished them to ayoid a spot where so horrid a deed 
had been committed. A great deal of fuss is made in China oyer 
these parricidal cases. In theory, no matter how little fault 
attaches to the parricide, he is sliced in pieces, the town most 
change either its site or its name, if not both, and eyen, I belieytf 
its status. A case of this sort is now g;>ing on at Kiang-tstng ; bat 
the townsmen, besides being anxious to escape ruin, know perfectly 
well that it is a trumped-up case, and haye managed to get th« 
original yerdtct set aside. Readers of the Peking OautU will 
hare obserred that, in such cases, the homicide is almost inrariably 
n'ported to be a lunatic ; for this fact, though of no senrioe to th« 
criminal, frees the town, the relatives, and other persons incrimi* 
nsted by law, of ricarious responsibility. 



238 Up the Yan^-tse. 

There are a number of young nan mu striplings planted about 
here ; their long, straight, slim, and bare trunks do not look as if 
they could ever develop into the oak or sycamore-like monsters 
which I saw in Ewei Chow. At the bend opposite Old Lu Choa is 
the market-town of Pi-t'ung Ngai, twenty /t below which is the 
limit between Lu Ohou Department, and its dependency Ho-kiang 
Hien District. A four-storied pagoda, something like that oppo- 
site Lu Ohou, stands on the lower end of the Old Lu Chou promon- 
tory or spit ; and, on the opposite side, cut large in the rock near 
which descending boats are carried, is an inscription evolyed by one 
of the iaotais of Lu Chou, half a century ago. It runs, < For the aid 
and benefit of all living creatures,' and probably alludes to the break- 
water influence of the rock. The bed of the river must be very 
broad in summer time, for the rocks within the catchment area 
to the right standing ten and twenty feet out of the water, are 
just covered at the flood, and form most dangerous rapids and 
whirls. Lower down, near the left bank, some rooks, of probably 
a similar nature, are just covered, and form a dangerous whirlpool 
called I^iu-lau Yih. It is hard to see what escape there oould 
be for a junk landed in a hole between high rocks from which 
the water must escape either backwards or sideways. There were 
similar sinks or traps at the flrst of the Wa-yau San-t'an, and 
to our left the current at the rapid was rushing up-stream. A 
large junk, just ahead of us, which had descended too much 
sideways, had to row for its life to keep its stern clear of the 
whirl ; but we glided straight down quite close to it. The town 
opposite the whirlpool of Niu-lau Yih on the left bank is called 
by the same name ; it is also called Shang-pS Sha, and beyond 
it the river turns east. After a little while, it again turns south, 
and even south-west, passing on the right a jagged hill about 
2,000 feet high, the flrst of any importance we have seen since 
leaving Lu Chou. A considerable town at the corner a few miles 
further down is Ho-kiang Hien, noted for its lichees, {Neplie- 
Hum lichi)^ the lowest-lying town I have yet seen on the Great 
Riveras banks ; but perhaps in the winter season it wears a 
diflerent aspect. I could not anywhere see the city wall, which 
was hidden by the suburb. The place cannot contain more than 
10,000 inhabitants, if so many. The city walls of Sz Ch'uan 



2he Great Salt WWs. 230 

to was aro Tery diffurent from the broad and solid masses one sees 
in the northern and eastern Provinces. They are seldom more 
than five or six feet thick, and indeed are often mere stockades 
or bolster! n(^s-up of patches between the rocks or mounds on which 
the town is built. Ho-kiang is I'M) H from Lu Choa by land, and 
probably 150 or more by water. The river which comes from 
Jon-hwai in Kwei Chou Province runs from the south-west into 
the Great River just below the town. Like nearly all Sz Ch'uan 
rivers, it abounds in rapids ; but I hope some time to be able to 
speak from personal observation. The Kwei Chuu frontier is said 
to bo about 120 /i from the Great Ri?er, and, before reaching; the 
latter, the Jen-hwui River winds nine times about or near a 
mountain called Ting Shan, to which * obeisance is made,' {pni) i.e. 
the boat is directed, nine times during her trip up or down. 
8alt is the chief upward cargo, and * mountain produce,* such aa 
grain, bamboo shoots, drugs, pulse, and a species of astringent 
taro* called mo yii come down. Jdn-hwai Hien must not be con- 
fused with the Sub-prefecture or T*ing of the same name. 

The Yang-tsz now turns north-east, and we pass a pagoda, 
at the corner on the left bank, which is visible from far below 
Ilo-kiang. I^wer down, a rock runs out from the right bank 
into the middle of the river, and just above it is the whirlpool of 
Ch*ien K*ou. To the right arc a few hills, perhaps 2,500 feet 
high, which we lose sight of as we turn north and pass Wang- 
chia Ch'ang on the right bank, a kai-ttz^ or village mart, subject 
to Ho-kiang, and celebrated for its olives {ch*mg kwo^ or 
Ciiuttrium albtim), A mile below this, a creek crossed by a bridge 
of straight stone blocks runs over an irregular mass of red sand- 
stone rocks into the Yang-tsz. It also comes from Kwei Chou, 
but of course is not na?igable ; its waters rise on the opposite 
side of the ridge which forms the source of the K*i-kiang Hivert 
or of a branch of it, and consequently the two always rise at the 

* Also called JCtcei-tou-fu, or * ghosts* bean-cord.* Raw, it is nsed 
mfdicinallj for sores. Groand, and boiled with lime, it takes the plaoe 
of Hoar and bean-eord as a comestible. 

t The maps appear to Im all nntmstwotthy as regards ri?ers, and 
hence I note, to the best of my endearoars, thuir actoal coarsm. t 
should mention, howe?er, that, shortly aft4«r loaring K*i kiaojir* I failed 
(lis elvowhfre stated) to diacorer the emitoacbore of a river which is 
evidently the one now referred to. 



240 Up the Yang-tse. 

same time. We now turn north-west, and come in sight of % 
raised house amid a clump of trees, on the right bank, oppMite 
the village of Shih-pa T'o, (Kiang-tsing District). Sz Ch*aan 
has never produced a chwang-yiian or optimus at the Peking 
examinations since one Yang obtained the honour about a century 
ago ; at least so the story goes, fie stood high in the Emperor's 
favour, but was particularly anxious to re- visit his < three agnates 
and five affinities ' — in other words his friends— once more. The 
Emperor would not part with him, although he pleaded very hard. 
At last he said that it was his duty to attend to certain tribute 
due from his native Province,-^ertain enormous brooms six feet 
broad. * But how do you manipulate such big brooms P' asked 
his Majesty. * Thus, with two hands,' said Tang, imitating the 
movement by gestures. I do not quite see the point of the joke, 
or the insult ; but, anyhow, the Emperor did, and be was ired, 
and sentenced Tang to perpetual exile. * As your Majesty 
willeth ; onlj anywhere but Shih-pa T'o in Sz Ch'uan, a filthy 
place which would suffocate me to death,' prayed the disgraced 
official. ' However, to Shih-pa Tfo you shall go, and nowhere 
else,' rejoined the monarch in his royal rage : and exiled he was, 
to the bosom of his family. 

We now turn north-west and then north until we reach Tang- 
shih F*an on the right bank, and here we moored, being overtaken 
by a storm. It is well I ran no risks with an open boat this 
time, for even with a kwa tsz chuan^ or large passenger boat, my 
things got wet. 

Leaving Tang-shih P'an, we take the left channel of a broad 
catchment space resembling that opposite Lu Chou, the right chan- 
nel turning north-west and ours suuth-west. The two channels 
join on the other side of the island and run north-east. To the 
right is a picturesque hill, prettily wooded, called Sien-yii Shan, 
opposite to which on the left bank is Chu-chia T'o, a market 
town of some size, belonging to Tung-ch'uan Hien, and once the 
scene of the usurper Li Chin-wang's exploits. At this place a 
boat puts out, and we supply onrselvcs with garlic, a species of 
onion or scallion called the k*u hiai, beans, chillies, and other 
luxuries. The size of the (<m, toUf shcng, and koh, (which at 
Ch'ung K'ing may be roughly compared with the double-bushel, 



The Great Salt Wells. 241 

p*ck, quirt, and gill), varivs ▼••ry much at difftrrent {daces. Hero 
luut a sUtmj of broad beans, at least a <('> trt, Hold for 20 canh, or 
lihH than a pmny. WT*.* past some rooks to the left, aud, continu- 
111,; n >rth-ea8t, oume in \iew uf K^'iu Cli'i ou the right bank ; 
at thin pUoe a >mall river runs into tii* Y.int^-tbZ from Shih>drh 
Til on th'.' Kwii Ch'tu tn iti T,* un>l brings down thenoe cargoefl 
ot huiphur and saltpftri*. Thi* binks t) within two feet of tho 
water are covered with tohacc<> planted in the tenth mooth. If 
it ripens before the ribing water reaches it, it is manufactured 
into hitn-yen ox the ordiitury leaf tobacco, which the ^z Ch*uaa 
people Ui^ually htiek into their pipe.s in the foroi of a rough cigar 
like a Vvvey fin cut in tw<». It it has to be cut unripe, it is 
chopped into the tz-yen^ or * hi Iky tobacco/ smoked in the water- 
pipes. The tobacco, which is planted in the third and fourth 
tniions, is gathered in the li.ih and sixth. Passing near the 
dangerous rupid of Luu-}iii^^ T'un on the right bank, where 
many jtif.ks are huid to c«>in<* to ^ri-t, and near which there is 
a htoue tablet with characters uiit htr^e which I could not make 
out, we turn nurlh and arrive <>ll' ihe luirket-towo of Sung-ch'i, oa 
the lett bank. Though you do not seu vi-ry much of it from the 
riv«T, it in »aid to extiud hack in a eontinu ui street three miles or 
inoff in len.;th. Two streams enter the (neat Kiver justaboTe this 
pi ice, tile tiii^t of which is said to oonie troiu Vung-oh*uan citj aod 
^hwiing-hiii^ (h'an^, and the tec ind Irom Ch'^n-shih Cb*ang; 
another stream, trom iiidu-lung Ch'ani^, enters the Great Uifer 
immediately below the town, i give the information as oolleoted 
by uie ; but it will not be easy to recouuilu these dati with those 
already given, ai we travelled by land in a westerly direotiun. I 
am inclined to think that the river bclow the town must be the 
Vun^-ch'uan Uiver, and the other two those orossed at T'ai-piog 
and Shwaog-shih or iliang-shui Tan. You can be oertaia of 
nothing in China unless you actually see it. No natiTe who hae 
not actually travelled over the land can tell you much aboat a 
road or a river, and if he d>H*s, (assuming that he attempts to tell 
the truth), it is not always that he can keep up the resolutioo, or 
that he does not go otield for some reason for distorting it Ho 

* Soro^ maps bring ths Kwei Chon frontier ap to the Great River, 

but this b quite a mistake. 



24^^ Up the Tujig-tse. 

first thinks what it is his interest to say, then what you woul 1 like 
him to say, then wimt it is hpcoraing to say, aud finally what people 
generally say ; or he says what his ready tongue happens to have 
on the end of it. Notwithst mding all this, no Chinarnan of any 
rank or station fails to aset;rtaia the exact truth when his owa 
pocket is concerned. 

Sung-ch*i is computed to be 120 /* from Ilo-kiang. A few 
miles further down on the left bank is the market-town of Fu-hsia 
Gh*ang, where the river which we crossed ut Ma-fang ChHoo enters 
the Yang-tbZ. Beyond this, the left bank belongs to Kiang-tsin^ 
District. 

We next pass the village of Erh-ch'i Ch*ang on the right 
bank, and a very large and beautiful plantation of yews, with bam- 
boos in the middle, surrounding a handsome residence on the left 
bank. There are some rocks to the right, after which we turn 
north and pass the mouth of a second small stream (hence the name 
£rh-ch*i) coming from the south, and^ like the one at Ewan Ch'i» 
from Shih-Srh Tu. Turning north-east, we pass Shih-mdn-'rh on 
the left bank, below which the stream which we crossed at Ting- 
ehiang Ngao enters the Yang-tsz. It communicates with a place 
called Oh*ang-ch*ung, but is not navigable. Opposite Shih-mda- 
'rh a number of bamboo rafts, loaded with huge jars of wine, are 
making their way up to Ya-chou Fu. This wine comes from Pe-sha^ 
a place we can see ahead of us on the ri^ht bank, and which is 
supposed to be 70 U from Suog-ch'i. All this way down, the 
Great River, at this stage of the water, is a magnificent broad 
stream, in which it is hardly ever necessary to actually descend 
the rapids, most of which are near the banks. The scenery con- 
tinues to be hilly, but not mountainous; and no uncultivated land 
is visible in any direction. At P^sha there are a number of Ya- 
chou rafts, which go crawling up in lengths of sometimes 500 feet» 
with a boat for steering at intervals of eyery hundred feet or so ; 
they are very narrow, and just broad enough for a matshed to be 
built upon them as shelter. There is a very fine and conspicuous 
guild here, built in red, marked (unless my eyes deceive me) 
San Ch*u Hwui-kwan, which would mean * Hu Kwang Club/ 
There were not more than a score of junks opposite the town, 
which would probably contain 10,000 inhabitants. The riyer 



The Great Salt Wells. 143 

DOW turns north. At various Itr^e places boats have shot out with 
* protectors ' on board, in readiness to escort some native official 
from stage to sta^e. Their solicitude i» damped when thej see it 
is only a forbiddinj^-lookiuf^ man of the ocean. Thcj seem to 
think it quite natural that they shnuM have to hanf^ about for 
another day or two: of all commodities iu this country time is 
ondoiittti'dly the rlieRpo««f. 

Hoth hunks of the River, especially the right bank, are much 
luwt-r ahuut here than I have ever seen them for any great expanse 
west of leh'an^. The next reach runs north-east, then the river 
turnii once more north, and always in a Kne broad rich stream such 
mn tho Greaf Eu»t*^rn co«ld eavily turn in. I do not think that 
an\ where ht-tween Lu Chou and thia the hod has been less than a 
quirter ot a mile broad, thouj^h the channel is occasionally 
oarr >wed (is far as would concern steamer navigation), by rapids 
and fcks. Our course is now north-west, and we pass, on the 
left, a creek spanned by along bridj^e uf Htepping-stunes; imme- 
diat' ly below this is the market-town of Vu-ch*i, built to a great 
exttiit upcm piles supported by holes ii the rocks. At the lower 
end of the town, the stream which we crossed at Lii-f6ng Yih 
enttrs the Yang-tAZ, which now turns north-east. B^th Sung-oh'i 
and Vu-ch'i are ninety li from their District City Yung-oh'uaa. 
Th*- country now beoomea a little more hilly, the left bank being 
perhaps 7(K) feet above the Uiver. We turn east, and pass Kaa- 
hwo Ch*ang, with a stream helow whiuh runs from Tsou-ma Kaag, 
the end ot our tirst day's journey westward. Not one of the rivers 
on the left bank between Lu Chou and Ch*ung-k'ing is navigable 
for any but small boats. Further down, we pass on our right the 
com|)a4*t town and the rapid of Lung-roiin T*an, tha eddy below 
which meets the descending rapid as it nils over a rock, and forms 
what must be a fatal vortex for any biat getting into it. A 
stream entering the Great River at this place runs from Lo-p*ing 
Ch*ing under the Kung-tfing District. Bith sides of the rivar 
are now decidedly hilly, but highly cultivated, and thickly planted 
with orange trees. The river turns north at Lung-mdo, and thea 
east to a bend, just before which, near the left bank, is a huge 
rock eiUed Tiger R mk, which has tumbled down from the hill-top, 
and which has some legend attached to it. The oharaoters. Urn 



244 Up the Yang'tse. 

Shihf ' Tiger Rock,' are cnt upon its face in Iprge and easily Tisible 
oharaoters. There is also a lengthy inscription, too small to be 
deciphered at a distance. Opposite this rock is a fine new house 
built by a man who has made his fortune out of oranges; and, as 
the river sweeps round to the north-west, we get a fine view of his 
magnificent orange-groves, covering the whole of the right-hand 
slopes for several miles. We are now running diagonally towards 
a long range which runs from north to south on the left side of the 
River, and which I think must he a continuation of that range 
which we skirted just htfore emerging from the K'i-kiang River ; 
but as we are rapidly npprooching Kiaig-tsing, (only forty t fruni 
Kiang E'ou), we shall soon ste. The right bank lowers as the 
river bends to the north, and we get a fine view of the Kiang- 
tsing pagoda occupying a commanding site on the top of a wooded 
hill, not unlike the island at Pagoda Anehornge, Foochow. On 
the left bank, just at the bend, is a dirt} -looking village calkd 
Pd-kan Fa, which looks as if it had a strong wall around it, as the 
bare mud banks descend perpendicularly from the houses to the 
river-side. "We are now in full view of the city on the right, with 
a village opposite called Chung-tu Kai. Kiang-tsing, (Blakiston's 
Kiang-tsze), is built low, like Ho-kiang, not being more than 60 or 
60 feet above the water. The boatmen all say that the river is 
never ^more than four feet lower than at present, but that all the 
houses outside the city are occasionally Hooded at highest water. 
Besides the fine pagoda on the hill of the left bank, there is an 
equally fine one, behind the city, on the right bank, but just visible 
above the housep. The interior part of the town looks neat and 
very well built, but the extra-mural portion has only a rough and 
temporary look, as if not intended for permanence. The yainen^ 
built under the wall near the river, looks quite a handsome place, 
and very difierent from the ricketty masses of haggarts usually 
inhabited by Chinese mandarins. Both pagodas are of thirteen 
storeys, that is, thirteen apartments, each surmounted by a pro- 
jecting ridge running round the top, with a crest running inwards 
and upwards from the topmost ridge. It is true that most Chinese 
pagodas have an odd number of ridges ; but the arrangement of 
baseband crest does not always give the same number of actual 
stages. And I have seen several pigodas with an even number of 



The Great Salt Wills. 2'rj 



T" 



both ftniTf 8 and rid)((8, however yoti count them. It is one of the 
nu'ht diflicult tltin^R to lount the numhtr of Mnges in a Chine»o 
pii^tda ii« m a dihturce, Ifr the 13 1- l.ob no foint if rest h}* ^bich 
it call h(o[i nr.d bi^'iti iituhh. 

1 l.t- ii\tr tiiroK iilnxht due f>( uth uittr fnhhin^ Kion^>tt>irjr, 
thin wtst, tlicn W( ht.north-wi>t, until ^v K*^t u tine vitw ot l><>th 
Kiuii^'ks n uiid Kiiti ^-tMT tir, t( gillur. It is < xidint tliat the rarf:e 
runnii ^ u\vh^ the li^ltt haiik <•{ the K*i-kiang KiTtr, and which 
«e, c'< fniiij; Ironi tlie w<M, art nrw hy inuy <.f hisfotinfc at ri^ht 
aiiKl'f*, om:n«t he the range, (r a ccntiiiualion of therar^^e, of 
i*hiih 1 just hpoke, for then the north w«» to our ri^ht, whereas 
the Kiang K'uu range alhu running noith and bouth Itas its mrth 
end to our left. 

I have nlr^ady on a pn vi(>u^ oc(-a('i«>n d« f«crihed the Great 
Uivtr ti(>m Kiarg K'ou down to ( h'ung-kMi g. I will only add 
that, on this (<ccasi<»n, I w«nt on bhore at I'e-hha (Linie-htone Pash), 
in order to visit the coul mines and the lime kilnp. 1 went a few 
yards down one pit, until stopp«d hy the wet; it was shored up 
internally with heumi", aiid bh'ped d«»wn exactly like the mineantar 
IVkin^. Kvery mine hat* an air hhait, and witlxut thiH the small 
Vufty oil Ian p which (uch wnknan iahttns round hib head cannot 
be burnt. The ChineRe say that there ia no danger from fire-damp 
as long as thtre is air for the Ian p. They teem quite ignorant of 
the I)uvy principle, which, indcul, is not to he wond»rcd at, seeing 
that we ourselves have only known it a few years. The mine 
produced dusty, smoky coal« which sold at the pit mouth fur 70 
cash the ton of about 2iOcutti«s. Thus the foti (tor this special 
purpose) is tviice the size of a /u/i, (in its ordinary sense of 100 
catties), of Hhich, however, it is always in theory but the tenth 
part. The lime-kiln product d ovtr 1(H cuttits of lime a day, and 
sold it at 7,0(.0cash the 10,(>(0 cutties, burnin;; three Mi, or say 
2(0 cash worth, of c«>al daily, i.e, in pr«Nlucing 70<) cash worth 
of lime. The (X[H>rt of the stone was forbidden, but anyone could 
come and burn lime on the spot. 1 gathered a number of new plants 
on the hills, the botbnical namts for seme of which ire given in a 
separate list. 



2 40 Up the Yang'tse, 

NORTH KWEI CHOU. 

One of tlie great Ch*ung-k*ing high-roads runs from Ilai-t'ang 
Ch*i on the right bank of the Yang-lbz to T*ung-t8Z flien in the 
Province of Kwei Chou. Having undergone a second saturation of 
Ch*uiig-k*iiig smells, I yielded to the intense desire for a little 
fresh air, and started on an exjiedition along this road. Travelling 
by land in Pz Ch'uan is expeubive work, unless one is prepared to 
deny himself every vestige of comfort and cleanliDess. Strong 
cbair-coolies sufficiently robust to endure the mountain roads cannot 
be hired for le^s than 3(0 cash a day. Servants cannot be dis- 
pensed with, and they too require small chairs, so that 4(00 cash a 
day for coolies is only a preliminary expense. Accordingly, our 
party went trooping along to the number of seventeen, all told, 
and, after ascending the imposing hills opposite Ch'ung-kMng, 
fuund ourselves at a village called Lao Cbiin Tung, five K from the 
landing-place at the foot of the village of Hai-t*ang Ch*i. The 
Ewei Chou road crosses this ridge a little to the left of a very 
prominent pagoda which crowns the summit of one of the hills 
opposite Ch'ung-k'ing. The fog or mist, in which Sz Ch*uan seems 
to be chronically enveloped at this season of the year, lifted just as 
we turned to take a parting look at the river, and enabled us to get 
a good view of the picturesque but odiously dirty city, I am told 
by travellers who have journeyed from Yiin Nan by way of Chao- 
t*ung Fu, that fogs hang like a permanent dividing-line upon the 
edge of the Sz Ch'uan highlands, and, indeed, that this mist gives 
the name to Yiin Nan, which simply means ' South of the Clouds.' 

We met enormous numbers of coolies conveying rice to Ch*ung- 
k'ing. It is carried in canvas bags, each containing a lou of 40 
catties, and one of which is slung at each end of the carrying pole. 
The price in the country is 600 cash a ^om, and 7(0 at Ch*ung- 
k'ing. The rice was being conveyed from the village at which a 
market {chUnuj) happened to have been held that day, and to which 
the surrounding countrymen convey their produce. These markets 
are quite an institution of Sz Ch'uan, and are usually held on fixed 
days in each month ; as, for instance, on all days having a 3, 5, or 8 
in them. I surmise that what the Cantonese call a hiiU or hU must 
be the same thing ; but I have never visited one of the latter. The 



XitrtJi Kwei Choii. 2^7 

expression kon hiiii or knn ch^amj wotiUl therefore mean ' going to 
tliu liiir.' 

CruMsin^ the riJ^'e of hills, thf ro.id takts a course almost Jiio 
South along the upp'T ui'ie of a VilUy lii*- h»tt'nn of whioli is pilly 
lari'l, an<l the slopes of which nr.* c v. n;l with the p'»ppy. This 
w:iH rny tirst «»xp''rienco of thopjppyin I ir^»* ij'»;iiititi"«, an*l, ia 
truth, it rtppt'Jifi .1 PS if sill eulliv.iti.»n !» i i h»MMi ahin«loned in ita 
fivour. Hill-»i«l»"i, pa 1 iy-I.ii>«l,>i !>?»'•«, roclc *,— ev«ry Hp-»t seemed 
c )vered with it. Of tln' doz»'n or ho of xqiiire milfs which the eye 
could coiiimaMd, eleven must hive heen j;JVfn up fo poppy cultiva- 
tion. Wlieat :ind hr»al he;in!» (/«*«£/*, or /*«i, or /m tiu) were tlie 
only other considmihle erop>«, exct-p* on th»» r »uihfr»t hiiln, where 
|Has (or ican ton) tteemed to flourish hent. An iiittlli^>iit gentleman 
informed me that a piece or hed of Inn I (Canij) alwut 1.5 feet square 
would produce from bix to eight quarts (nheny) of wheat, Worth 
from GO to 70 cash the quart ; whiKt the same land would produce 
ten ounces of w»ll-settled opium, W'>rth ]<K) cash the ounce. Thus 
grain dots not fttch one third the money that the bame area of 
opium dotn; but it should h«* remembered that the p'»ppy requires 
more t^kill, and plenty of mnnure. In this valley we passed an 
opium shop, whfre 1 noticed an advertisement to the effect that a 
* bi^ box * of Villi N.in opitim was 21 cash, and a 'small box' 18 
cuHh. 1 was told that a big box contained ^^) of an ounce, and a 
sm:ill b^ix ^\-^ ; so that the price of the prepared drug was about 
2'iO cash the ounce. It is tlve /i from Lio-chiia Tung to Ma-chia 
Tien, near which pl.ice I observed a number of coolies ooQve}ing 
Ci»al to C'hMmg-k'ing. 1 could see mines on the sides of the hills 
in the dintance. The coal was nearly all dusty, and looked dirty, 
and likely to smoke much. The local price was 90 cash the /*o, or 
60 cash the Vino^ one /*i<io or load bfing a third of two /*o. The 
To appears to be the unit of measurement at the pit's mouth. Tha 
eoolies said the selling price at Ch*ung-k'ing was just double. 

What has struck me most in Sz Ch*uan ia the shabby and 
abject look of the people compared with the riehneaa of the land. 
Who enjoys all these rich crops? 

Lau Ch'ang is a considerable village, and a floarishittg opiom 
centre, fifteen li from Loa-chfin Tung, and looks like a oollaotioa 
of shambles. Here I noticed a few loads of iron in imall ptf a, and 



349 Up I he Yati^'tse. 

was toM that it carae from a place over 100 h farther on, called 
Chieli-lunj; Ch'ang. A load of 100 catties (tlie hystanders suid) 
costs 3,000 cash at the [tlace of production, and sells for 5,0 ^0 oash 
at Ch'ung-k'in^. Some men also passed rae carrying on their 
backs hu;;e hales of wliat looked at first like cotton, and then like 
snow-wliite sugar-sticks, or manni. This turned out to he Vung 
t8\w, or Fufsia jmpt/n'fcra, from Sunjj-k'an near the K\?ei Chou 
frontier. Tlie sticks are so li;;ht that they blow away from the 
hand, and a bale only weighs 20 catties. A villa;rer volunteered 
the information that it c»»st 3t)0 to 400 cash the catty at Sung-k'an, 
and sold for 600 to 700 at C!i*unj5-k*inj?. lie said the chief use of 
it was to make arlilioial tlowcrs for women's hair ; but those beauti- 
ful pictures on snow-white * paper,* which one buys at Canton, are 
also made of this material. Another strange commodity which 
passed us was pita's bristles, for sale as manure. 

Seven and a half /i from Lau Ch*ang is another market town 
calK'd San-pd T'i, where a man pointed out a li^rove of pine trees 
which he said were specially destined for providing pr<»p8 for the 
coal mines. N»*ar this place, too, I observed what I suppose were 
cherry trees, (cut/ t'tWy or ying 0<io)^ bursting into ll »wer. The 
description given of the fruit corresponded with the appearance of a 
cherry, and the gardener added that the season only lasted ten 
days. 

We tifliiied at a miserable hostelry callt-d Lati-a Shu, so ill- 
providfd that even a couple of ey:u:9 were procured with dilEculty. 
Anotlier twelve It brought us to K li-shih Ch'au;^, the lirst stage on 
the way from Ch'ung-k'ing to Kwei Chou. According to the 
landlord, it was 00 /* from Ch*ung-k'ing. 50 from Lau-chiin Tung, 
and .'H from Sm-po I'i. In the other direct i-in, PG-kwo Sim was 
51, and ('hieh-lung Ch'ang 71 U. During the last 20 //, wheat 
and be ms were m )re pleutiful, although tlio p >[)py still occupied a 
good half of the land. 

The miseries of hotel life in China, and ef^peeially in the south, 
have been enlarged up->n so often that I need not advert at length 
to my exp riences in tliis regard. Suflice it to say that the Chinese 
waiters do everything which is disgusting to the fastidious Eu- 
ropean. They blow down the spouts of tea-pots ; wipe their noses 
on their sleeves ; wipe cups (when they wipe them at all) with their 



Xurth Ku'vl Chou. ^49 

ooat-tails or * tho hutel ra? ;* wash their linnrln in tht" saucepan ; 
wipe the tuhle with their huts or t).«.'ir nkirts; fait their filthj 
tin^crt in cups or on the inner side of plutis ; spit on the floor; 
■crutch themselves with your knives ; prize things open with your 
forks; pour wine bavk into hottlvs alt* r it has been tasted; — ia 
ah(»rt, everything which we are so anxioiiit that cur servants should 
Dot do. In addition to ttiit», the rounis are grvuty and filthy ; the 
divisions are thin; the noise is greut ; pruvisii^ns are bad and 
■eaic^ ; ci ss-p<M)li4 are usually plnced outtiide the windows ; lights are 
iusufIi<Ment ; draui^hts are u^iquitouM ; and, to crown all, vermio of 
every description swarm in ev*ry p<»Ktihle place. Thtre is one good 
point about 8z Ch'uan, howevtr, and that is that the people are 
generally too timorous to make t^eir curiosity disagreeable. 

1 took a walk through th<* two ro^in streets of Kai-shih, one of 
which leads to Nan-ch*uan //i>», and the other to K'i-kiang Hien, 
I noticed that the annual proclamation about the land-tax was 
already [waited, although it had only just appeared when I left 
Ch'ung-k'ing. It states that, in addition to the ch^ng liang^ or 
regular land-tax, an extra tax, {rhhtfi-t'irfi)^ of as much again will 
be n quired tluM year. The landlord told me that, in addition to 
thi*i, thrre were other forced contributions, which would amount to 
aix tiroes the ordinary land-tax, i.e. to about Tla. 4,00U,(K)0 for the 
whole Province. 

Next nioniing we continued our journey in a aoutherlj diree* 
tion to Nan-t*an K*iao, where we crossed a Terj fine bridga of 
three arclies, out of all pntportion U* the four-foot r(»ad and tumble- 
down hamlet. It has been pointed out by other trave11*'ni that the 
bridges of thit Province are exceptionally good ; and, indeed, tho 
verieht puddle of a creek S4em4 to be a sufficient excuse for the 
erection of a handsome stone bridge. At the entrance to many 
▼illag«s are stone tnbhts containing warnings and exhortationa to 
the young, or ini>cribed (by imp«rial permission) with eulogistie 
remarks upon the virtue of some widow or other. Virtue ought to 
be very autt«rt* in «aiitern i^z Ch'uan as far as males are conoemed, 
fi»r a sorrier ctdleotion of peasant women I never saw in my life. 
They wahhle about like so many goats (without their graee or 
aliierity) on their miserably .deformed stumps. They are, howe?er, 
uiiually neat about the head-dress, not to say gandj, and doabtlese 



tSO Up the Yang'tse. 

make wives quite good enough for their rustic husbands. Thej are 
not so ridiculously coy as their sisters of the east, and will some- 
times even volunteer an observation to the savage of Europe. 

We met a number of labourers carrying unhusked rice(J((ii-<«E) 
to Kai-shih. From their account, they carried three tou in their 
loads of 90 catties a tou. The best husked rice weighs 40 catties a 
toUy and is sold in the country by the catty, and in the town by the 
peck measure, or tou. Among the instruments which the 6z 
Ch'uanese use for husking rice is one called a /i/i, which appears to 
be a sort of light bamboo mill worked with the hand ; but I have 
not yet succeeded in completely understanding it. 

Five U further on is the hamlet of Pau-san K'iao, where a 
very substantial and comely little bridge, consisting of two huge 
slabs of stone resting on the banks, and on a pier iti the middle, had 
just been constructed over a creek. A monolith hard by had also 
been erected to commemorate the deed, but the superscription had 
not yet been cut. Sezagonal monoliths, crowned with a sort of 
oocked-hat capital, are another embellishment common to the 
entrances to Sz Ch*uan villages. The main roads are always of 
stone slabs, four to six feet broad. The profits arising from the rich 
orops are thus partly invested in solid public works, (for of course 
Buoh works are purely municipal, and quite unconnected with the 
executive government), which, at least, form one class of property 
that cannot be conveniently squeezed away. One li farther on we 
saw the quarry whence the stone had been taken. With no other 
instruments than a heavy iron chisel or wedge, and a rough sledge- 
hammer, the villagers cut out of the solid rock blocks twelve feet 
by four and one. 

From the time we left Kai-shih, we saw very little of the 
poppy. Indeed I do not think I saw twenty beds of it during the 
wl ole day's journey to Lung-kang. I asked the reason, and was 
told vaguely that there was plenty of it farther on. The only large 
trees were the hwaivj-hwo shuy a tree which looks to me like a 
banyan, and which is very common from K'wei-chow Fu upwards. 
We passed one magnificent specimen, at leabt twelve feet in diame- 
\ ter, or thirty counting the ramifications of the exposed roots. The 

^ country was more wooded than nearer to Ch*ung-k*ing, the chief 

trees (most of them small or young) being cypress, (pOj *^nd fir 



^Yorth Kicei Chou. 251 

or pine {tnng or ts^ung), with occasional AUuriUt xtmicia (^*nfig), 
peach trtes, and chtiius. Jo D.ia nt-iglbiiurhiKxi I law fur the 
fii»t time ^^z (h'uuo tea. It was cne tingle patch, growing 
amongst whtat U|'tin a con\«x |>i((-e of (jrt'Uiid. I was told it was 
A fine kind callvd fnw-fn"o.ihitn (a Kort oi Ptkoe, i.e. j4 hao or j>6k 
hou), Worth ovfr 1000 cabh a cattj. /s a rule tea is not procurable 
in the country inns. 

Kun^-p*in){ Ch'anfr, where the hi^'h-road (as teems in thete 
parts to he usually the cast) runs through the inn, is 15 /i f rom 
Kai-shih, and a little farther on is C'hi-wo Ching, where I had 
breakfast. 1 find that the total hill last night for a three-bedded 
rt>oiD tor myiielf and another three-bedded one for three aerTaota, 
includinK hot watt r for tny tea, and dinner for the three, was 240 
cash, or barely one hhillint:. The identical * religious Wang-«rb/ 
as Captain Gill calls him, is one of the servanta, and another ia 
the hP'thir of the ( hang-^rh who followed that able traveller. 
He bears the i»ame name ua his brother, although be ia the eldeat, 
and (xplaina the ciicuroKtaiice by aa}ing that it would not be 
nitideftt to hay Chan;; Tu, or * eldest,* and so he is * second brother 
No. 1,' and the otht-r * second No. 2,* a piece of reasoning not werj 
conclusive to the Hur<>ptan miiid. Wang-^rh developed a habit of 
opium. smoking after leaving his enterprisini; master, and it may be 
interefeting for thoM> who doubt the poMibility of curing the habit 
forthwith, to know that h«* broke it cffcomplett ly in tendaya. He 
first tri*-d without ni«<lii*inp, and nearly died <»f dysentery, but waa 
suddenly hrou^ht round with a quart of vineKar, salt, and water 
administered in large sportnfuls ev«ry half hour. The fDedicine 
which finally cnn d him was a powder bearing the Chineee name 
of Watson and Compiny. 

Uvyond (*hi-wo Chinf? we met numbers of men oarrying Inada 
of bamlioo-paper {(»*no chth), a fabric the manufacture of which I 
have already dei^orihrd eliiewhere. The load c<insi<tted of foar 
packages (I'm/i) each wei^hinK 10 catties, the price waa 600 cash 
the paok»-t. A packet contains .50 Ao, or quires, of 78 sheeta, t.«. 
8,90<» sheets. 8ume of it was whi'.e, some yt-Uow, and a little 
further on we came to some pits where bamboo italks destined for 
the manufacture were rotting in lime. 

Cbiaog-chia r*iog it 5 /i from Chi-wo, and at the top of t 



252 Up the Yangrtse, 

ridge, the desccut from which discloses a beautiful amphitheatre 
of cultivation. Ainpliitlieatre is the word fur the scenery of 
Eastern Sz Ch'uan. Xvxl surmount a ridge, and looking down, 
see perhaps six ftquare miles of hills and rallvy, the arena 
being paddy, with innumerable twining and twisting dykes; 
the lower aeats being a mixture of paddy-land and cabbages, 
and the top parapet bein{? hills from 500 to 2000 feet high, with 
their pine forests and wheat slopes between. If, instead of bein^ 
cut up into ridges and water, the hills were smoothed oyer and 
covered with grass, the country would resemble that part of West- 
moreland through which the L. & N. W. Railway runs. 

We met a man carrying a leopard skin, which he called 
^ tiger.* He said they were common in Kwei Chou, and that the 
peasants caught them by leaving poisoned doj^s «nd fowls where 
they were likely to come. Fish are very often caught in Sz Ch*uai& 
by poison : amongst other things i\ie j^a-ton {Sesnvia Crotonis tiglii) 
are used for the purpose. 

Higher hills than usual now loomed from the south, and I was 
told that these were in the vicinity of Lung-kang, our second day's 
stage. Our course now began to diverge a tritle from due souths 
and became a little westerly. Twelve ii from Chi-wo is P^-yang 
Miao ; a little further on Shih-hwo Pa, 35 li from Kai-shih. Here 
I saw some Oleafrayruns {kwei-hwa shii) and loose-skinned orange- 
trees (Citrus manjaritu) ; but of course devoid of fruit at this time. 
Kiang-tsing Hien is the famous place for oranges, and nearly all 
those I have as yet seen in Sz Ch'uau are of the loose -skinned kind 
(kan-tsz) like those of Foochow. Ten li farther on, we passed 
through the inn at Yen-p*ao-'rh, where I saw a man carrying a load 
of liquorice-root. 1 cut off and chewed a piece, which tasted 
precisely like that sold in our clieraists' shops. The price was 120 
cash the catty, or ahout five-pence the pound. 

We now began a considerable ascent through pines and cypres- 
ses, and saw far away to the east two peaks close together called 
Sheu-tu Shan, which I lliink must be near Nan-ch'uan. I en- 
quired, and was told that Nan-ch'uan was on the other side; and 
when 1 visit that place I hope to identity them. Also to the east, 
\ but south of Sl.en-tu, was visible another prominent mountain 

which the coolies called T'itn-t'ai Sz,— probably from the name of 



I 



Xorfli A'uri Chou. 2Ci3 

iu)Tne temple tbrreon. I think Lunjf Kanjf mnst hf nt Kant 2000 
feet above ('h*un^'>k*in^, arid thiit tlie two in >uiituin8 tncntiooed 
niitht he as ntut'h lii^licr than Lur.^-kni><: ; Imt I to«k no bnroroe- 
tricul ohM-rvutions. T'icn-t'ai l*M)kcil 12 iniU'8 away, and the 
bcHierH culicd it 180 /i ((iO milth). TiiiH iign-ett both with the 
Je^uit niapN, (whicl) niuke Nan-rh'uun quite v\\*he to K'i-kianf{ * ta 
the cr<»w tli*H*), and witlk ChiiM sc cnlrulatiunii i>i * ai^fcravated * 
distance, which, bttwccn thtse two eitiiK, isi ?oui.ttd as 180 ur 22(K) 
/i, uwini; tu thu diflu'iiltitN dt the routr. I)iirinK our accent I 
obnervtd a b4»x-like plant which was ciilUd l>y the peasants hung'" 
tsz * red berry,* nnd a tr<e likf a willow calltd the chii'in-lsz fhu^ 
from the fruit of which lamp-oil and CiindlcH are made. The price 
of the oil, ttcC'ifdin^ to one chair-bcart-r, wait 20 catih at Ch*ung- 
k*in^ ; but a pi'asart drridcd the oli«>ervation, and sui<l that it wat 
GO cubh in the country. The Cht of tliin oil mu.<«t therefore be con** 
sidt-red us a sU'^pended qMc<*lion. I have nu idea what the Hung^ 
t»z can bf. Another name for it is the ch'm piikj-Unug^ from tradi- 
tions that b* hit ^«d armies in Viin Nan and Kun Suh have kept 
theniHtlvis trum btaiviti)^ by drvourin^ the berries. Usually thej 
are Kivcn to the pi^'x, but the |oor oicabionally grind thim up to 
l>e mize<l with othtr tl*ur. 

Lunif.kani; Ch'arif^ is o mark«t*town ^itnilted bet wren two \aTi% 
mounds, whifh rU^p it like the handle does the blade of a pooket- 
kuili'. I m<>unt«d the hill on the en»t Mdi-, and found that from 
the summit ci>uld be formed a vt ry ju»t idea of the aurrounding 
country. Due south 1 noticed two spire-like pt'aks having the 
app4Hrance of a cathedral. This 1 was told was called * Double 
Hill,* which was in the K*i-kianic District, and 70 U diitant frum 
us. Due east, a^ain, were the bss remarkabb* but more conspicu- 
ous pair of peaks (already mentioned) called Sheti-tu, and which I 
could DOW see formed one ran^^e with T*ien-t'ai. A peaaaot 
p<»inted a little to the ttiuth of this latter hill os the position of 
Nan-ch*uan. Stranf^e to say, there was also a prominent land- 
mark due west in the hhs|K* of A peak distant a couple of miles 
from the villaf^e. Lunir-kani; is 2^ It from Shih-hwo Pa, and 60 
from Kai-shih. Here also I remarked the land-tax proclamatioo 
issutd by the Trrasurer of the Pro\inc«'. The regular land-tax it 
TU. GGS.OOO. The two Districti of Wdo-ch*uan and T»x-t*aDf, 



S54 Up the lan^'tse. 

on account of their poverty, are relieved from eontributin^ the 
ching-t'iehf and certain lands called ping Vien and kung Vien^ 
(military and common tenures), are relieved also; so that the total 
yield from the chiug-Vieh source is only Tls. 600,000. According^ 
to the proclamation, Tls. 230,000 go to the support of the Tartars 
at Peking, and Tls. 160,000 to the maintenance of the Tartar and 
Chinese armies of the Province. 

Our road the next day lay for the first few miles along the 
back of a long and narrow ridge between two valleys. To gaia 
this ridge, the highway on leaving Lung-kang takes a turn to the 
east, but soon resumes its southerly direction. During the whole 
day's journey of 70 /i, although I looked industriously in every 
direction, I did not see a single poppy until we were within a li or 
two of E*i-kiang, when I saw two small beds with one solitary 
poppy in full crimson fl iwer. After 12 /i of the ridge we came to 
the hamlet of Wo-shih Eang ; and from that place to the boundary 
between the Pa and K'i-kiang Districts hardly met a soul on the 
road, nor passed anything deserving the name even of a hamlet. 
The road wound about between paddy slopes, which had been 
industriously laid out in layers, and interminable beds of wheat, 
beans, cabbages, and peas. I have never yet seen a field in Sz 
Ch*uan of more than 100 yards square ; everything is in patches. 
The dividing line between the two Districts is marked by two large 
slabs, lying north and south of each other, (the one marked 
•southern limit of Pa District,' and the other 'northern limit 
of K'i-kiung District,) just as you reach the end of a ridge. As 
one looks down, nn oblong amphitheatre of paddy, vegetables, firs, 
bamboos, the silkworm oak, — a sort of Qa reus (chiug kang),^ 
discloses itself to the view ; and this we descend and bisect in its 
longer diameter. The inn or hamlet at the boundary ridge is 
called Fei Shun. At the lower end of the amphitheatre is a rather 
remarkable pool under a vertical slab of ri»ck, which at once strikes 
the eye as being a likely object for Chinese geomancy to practise 
upon. And, sure enough, a stone s'lrine is built on an eminence 
opposite, and the pool is called fang sheng taug^ or ' animal life 
oonserver.' At Hao Fang, 40 li from Lung-kang, I met iome 
intelligent literates in the inn, and found them shy, but evidently 
pleased to enter into conversation. The Chinese would be a 



Xorih Kwei Chou. 255 

oharming people in s>pite of th«'ir venul vicpff, if they were alwayt 
OD thtfir b('8t ht'haviiiur. Tiic\ can i;inerally, t-ven when roulicioutly 
di»pose<), b« induced to keep up a decent demeanour before a 
defeDCilrsa stranger. To aay that they are almost debtitut? of 
chivalroua feeliiifTi and thdt tht-y are not to be ^iven too much 
licence, eitlier in freedom or in money, is perbapi not unjust to the 
Chinese of all classes. 

We lost u'xnUi of Shwang Shan after leayinf^ the Lung-kang 
rid^e ; but a glimpse at it irom the southern end of that ridge 
iufHced to show that one peak was partly made up of an enarmoui 
tree. At Sha-ho-tHZ, 15 /i trom K'i-kiang, we caught a glimpse of 
the Ubuul J)istrict pagoda on our right, at the southern end of a 
high mai>s of cultivation called T*ai-kuDg ::5han, wboi>e length we 
skirted for a couple of hours. 

Of things we noticeii on the road were blocks of dirty 
Fu-shun pan-suit, like flitches of bacon dipped in a dust-pao, 
or fragments of statuary dug from a Neapolitan sewer; jart 
of wine ; and large iron pans coming from K*i-kiang. Drinil h«ef, 
(all of which had died naturally), strung on sticks, came, we were 
told, from Kwei Chou : it lotiked like Loudon cats'-meat. Also some 
more leopard skins. I observed a change in the shape of the bamboo 
rain-hats, whioh are smaller, light«'r and flatter in Kwei Chou. 
One was covered with light blue cloth. At Sha>ho-tHZ and another 
place a ffw li north of it are two very comely single-arched stone 
bridgen, with steps on each side leading ^) the apex, as is the oaae 
in Peking. At each bridge there is usually a ommemoratife 
tablet and pillar. We also met a good number of short-horned 
cattle ; some r«)ugh-coated, like the H**refordshire ; others more 
like the Scotch breeds. My attention was also attracts to an 
albino bufi'alii with red eyes. From the fact of hay being stored 
in stacks 15 or 20 feet up the stems of flr trees, I suppose it is safe 
to conclude that the rains in theae gullies often swell the torrent to 
a considerable height. Another kind of bridge or stepping* stonet 
common in Sz C'h*uan torrrnts c«»niiists of blocks of stone dropped 
▼ertivally into square s<icketa cut into the btittom. The water caa 
rush through, and as the spaces and the stones are each about a foot 
acrota, ohair-traffic can easily pass over. The only birds I saw, or 
haTe seen since leaving Ch*npg-k*ing, arc o€C«*tonal flocks of whita 



S56 Up the Tang'tse. 

egrets, {pi hao)^ evideDily in many cases tame ; one pigeon ; and a 
large bruod of tame ducks being fed in a paddy-field, just as jou 
see them fed at Canton. I also met several duck-huuses being 
carried along, from which I infer that the industry is a considerable 
one. The duck-houses nre semicircles or ' paddle-boxes' of coarse 
matting open at one side, and havin<; a small door at the other. 
The only fiuit trees we passed were occasional peaches or cherries, 
red or white, in flower ; and orange trees (one bearing still a solitary 
ripe orange.) Baiuboo, firs and pines, (fewer cypresses), with an 
occasional hwangkivo sJui {f Ficun), or * hemp willow' (mfl-/iti) 
were the usual trees. 

K'i-kiang llieu is 30 li from Hao Fang, and 70 from Lung- 
kang. The tiver makes a bend opposite the town, which stands on 
the left bank of the KM-kiang River. I crossed at the ferry, and 
put up at an inn immediately outside the South Gate, the back 
room of which looks across the river in an easterly direction. The 
chief trade of the place is transport, much of the salt for the capital 
of Kwei Chou, T'ung-tsz, and Tsun-i, passing this town. It comes 
in junks to K'i-kiang, and at this season of the year has to be 
tranbpoittd by coolies part overlan«l to Kwei-yang. The coal 
export was once fiouribhing ; but now it has dropped ofi^, owing to 
the partial exhaustion of the mines, in favour of Ndn-ch*uan coal. 
There is also a considerable production of silk and oranges. The 
number of licentiates allotted to the District is eight, against twenty 
to Pa llien. The regular land-tax is only Tls. 2,300 ; against Tls. 
3G,0(iO, and 9,000 piculs of grain-tax paid by the small District of 
Ilan-yang (Hankow) only one third its area. 

Very little of the business part of the city is within the walls, 
but it extends about a mile alon;; the tortuous bank of the river. 
In leaving the next day, we kept the river bank as far as Ch*iao- 
p*ao llu, a market town on lh»» left bank, through which a torrent 
runs, — i.e. probably runs, to jinlge from the pncipitous and water- 
worn rocks. There are two small rapids between K*i-kiang and 
Ch'iao-p'ao llu, the first calKd Ma-lau T*an, and the second Lo-taz 
T'an. The river takes a circuitous Ci>urse to the east at Ch*iao-pao 
Uu, and the road to 'IVong-tt-z Ch'ang (where the road and the 
river again meet) branches off due south. We could see that in 
srmc places the river channel was not twenty yards wide ; but as I 



Jiorth Kwei Chou. 257 

porpote to deMtnd from the highMt possible point, I thall hart 
iDore to Mj on this point anon. To our right were a eoaple of 
petki (the northern end of a range) conoeoted bj a ridge, and called 
Chi-kiing Tsai or * Cock*t Beak.* To oar left was a peak called 
Lau-Yiin Shan, whioh appeared to be the higheet north point of the 
range of hills on the right bank of the bend. P'o-she Oh*i is two 
U further on ; and Sliih-tao Ch*sng is sixteen U from K*i-kisng. 
We could now see that the southern end of Lao-Tiin Shan ended 
in a peak, which formed a sort of high screen behind the other 
hills. The Cook*s Beak began to open out too ; and, after jutting 
up in a peak to the south, joined itself to a system of lower bills. 
I shuuld think that the two mountains referred to were 3000 feet 
above the river bed. I enquired for the Shwang-shan Tsi, ShAn- 
tu Shan, and T*ien-t*ai Sz. which had formed such good landmarks 
at Luog-kang, but was told that the first Isj to the north-west, and 
was hidden bj the bills to the north of Oock*i Beak, whilst tha 
other two lay to the north-east, out of sight 

Lianglu K*ou is 25 d' f rom K*i-kiang; and after passing this 
hamlet we ascended the smooth rocky slope of a spur which led daa 
south to the summit of a connecting ridge. Near the top is a rillaga 
and temple combined, called Yu-wang Kwan. As we p as se d tha 
ridge, another magnificent amphiteatre of quite ten miles in diameter 
opened before us. To the left was a eW-^ts, or fortress, crowning 
a pinnacle which bad been the refuge of the neighbourhood in 1804, 
when the rebel Shi Ta-k'ai had encircled K*i-kiang. Ma-k*oa Ya is 
3J li from K*i-kiang, and here we descended bj an uTula-shaped 
spur running into the amphitheatra. At tha bottom was a most 
solid bridge over a torrent running throogb the Tillage of Yu-laa 
Uo-*rh. The piers were what remained of the solid rock which 
obstructed the torrent, and were joined by anormons slabs of stonci 
Near this place I saw two Man-tai Tang, or Aboriginal CaTati 
precisely similar in sixe and shapa to those elsawhara described. 
Seven li further on is Kan-tai Ya, whence we could see the other 
aide of the amphitheatre. We were now ascending a spar similar 
to that we had just descended. Ta-lan Ya is 48 /i from K'i-kiang, 
and Cbin-chu Ti is sa?en U farther on. The highest point of tha 
southern face of the amphitheatre is Sin P'u-tsx, whence the road, 
bisecting the figure north and south, can be clearly distinguished. 



S58 Up the Yang'tse. 

A little farther on is F^-shui Ch'ang, a market town of small pre- 
tensions. Ten li farther is Yao T'ang ; and daring this ten li the 
road rans along the edge of a precipice skirting a third arophi> 
theatre, which we desoezKled for ten li more in order to arrive al 
Ts^ng-tsz Ch*ang, The total result of the day^s jiurney is thisw 
Rounding the hills which cover K'i-ktang on the south, we ascend 
by the east side of an oblong amphitheatre of which those hills are 
the weat aide. We then bisect a second, and descend on the west 
side of a third. During the day we saw scTeral score of fields of 
opium, mostly as we got farther from K4-kiang. The country was 
rockier and rougher than daring the past three days, but cultiTated 
whercTer possible to grow any Tegetable, Rape and wheat were 
the commonest, then broad beans, and fewer peas. Cabbages, 
lettuces, and, near Ts^ng-tsz Chiang, the Baehmeria (or Urticd) 
niwea. We met coal coming from Kan Shui (on the Kwei Chou 
road) at 80 and 90 cash the basket of 120 catties, about one quarter 
the Ch'ung-k*ing price. It looked soft and smoky, and tiie price was 
fer slack and lumps mixed. Baskets or cradles, so arranged as to 
fall oyer the head and distribute the weight, are ocMnmooer bow 
than poles, and are eyidently the same as those used by the 
Tibetan tea-coolies. Drugs and foreign cottons were being trans- 
ported to Ewei Chou; also half-calcined eh^ing-hang wood, 'de- 
prived of its smoke* only. Of fruit trees, we saw occasional 
oranges, plums, apricots, peaches ; the three last in blossom. The 
dialect continued to be the Hankow dialect, almost pure and 
simple ; except that it is better. The people began to look simpler 
and robuster, and less craven and suspicious, as is always 
the case when you are leaving large towns behind you. 
Near Tseng-ts2 I observed two white poppies in full flower ; 
but as yet the poppy was not more than 2 or 3 feet high. 
There are a couple of pagodas at this market-town. 

Crossing a bridge, the road from Ts^ng-tsz Ch*ang now trends 
eastward, and follows the left bank of the river as far as She-p*i 
Wan, (or T*an), a market- town which takes its name from the 
bends above and below if. As we approached the frontier of Kwei 
Chou, we gradually perceived a simplicity and frankness quite 
foreign to the * rats ' of Ch'ung-k*ing. After quitting She-p*i Wao 
we turned south again, still ioUuwiug the river bauk, and halted 



.Yorih Kwei Cltoii. t50 

at the Kwei dion hoetelrj of Ch'dn-cbia Fa. Looking back, w« 
found the mott prominent feature waa the peak of Niu-kio Shan, 
a mountain which we aaw again much further on. A good deal 
of opium was growing between Tn^ng-taa Ch'aog and Kan Shni, 
our next halting place. The B&ehmerim waa alto common, aa well 
an wheat, turnips, rape, and other Brasskat, The treea ware 
much as the da^- before, except that the lilkwofm oak (cA'tiif- 
k<iti(f) was now more extensively planted. We here eame acroaa 
innumerable jellow towers, which I think mast have been prim- 
roses, but every man aeemed to have hie own name. They looked 
like exaggerated cowslips, with foar petals. Sh4-p*i Wan ia 10, 
and Ch*en-chia Pa 20 U from Ts^ng.tsx Ch'ang ; Kan Shai 30. At 
all the villages and hamleta we passed we saw women working th« 
nost antiquated hand-querna. At one village a woman waa la- 
lK>riously basking a fefv pounda of rice by treading with her 
miserable stump on a wooden lever called a ^i, which fell feebly 
into a baton aunk into the ground. The qaema aeemad Co ba 
cfiieAy need for grinding peaa and beant ; bat for rice a peonliar 
instrument is used in the shape of a narrow wheel running baek- 
wards and forwards, worked by men, in a atona trough. Tba 
term nien im is also applied to this. 

Just beyond Ch*^a-chia Pa ia a prominent object in the ahapa 
of a conical black pagoda perched on the extreme point oi a paakoB 
the left bank. This is called Weo-pi-ko, and belonga to K4- 
kiang. In fact, just about here, the Kwei Oho« and 8i Ch'nan 
frontiers intersect each other in a remarkable way. Aa far aa I 
could see, the principle on which the division hat been made ia to 
draw a straight line eaat and weat from the tenth end of the Shd- 
p*i to the north end of the Kan Shai bend, all aonth ef thia line 
belonging to Se Ch*«an, and all north to Kwai Chen. Aa Kwei 
Chou it touth of 8a Ch*nan, thit local arrangement ia n little 
puzzling. 

Kiin Shai it a very eontiderable market- town indeed, and hat 
a large silk, coal, and in>n trade. The ore (kwang) it aold at 50,000 
cish the 10,000 cattica, rich or poor, inclndiog earriage to Kan 
Shui. This it thrown into huge fornaeet of olay atrengthened 
ou(aide*with wood, and the roagh sheeta {ahimg ptLtt) of iron whiek 
are obtained therefrom are sold at Tit. 2.B the pionl of 20O eattiea, 



260 Up the Yani'tse, 

or, say, 4000 cash the 200 oaitiea. Another fnrnaoe tumi this 
into pigs, which (I think) the manufacturer said sold at Tli. 3.7 ; 
but here mj notes are blurred. I went into one of the factorie8« 
and saw the melting furnace and the pan moulds. The fuel used 
is the half-calcined silkworm-oak already referred to, whieh eoets 
12,000 cash the 1000 catties. There are between twenty and 
thirty furnaces in and around Kan Sliui, each one of which pays 
an annual tax of Tie. 90 a year to the Ki-kianfc Magistrate. A 
• Master ' {Shih-fa) has to be kept at the exorbitant salary of Tla. 
1 a day, in order to stop the cracks in the furnace, which he does, 
according to the popular version, by plunging his arm, if not his 
whole body, into the furnace. The pans sell at from 200 to 700 
cash apiece, according to size. The whole annual trade in pans 
' amounts to between Tls. 80,000 and TIs. 40,000 a year. Thets 
particulars were gathered in a very satisfactory way, for, a oorioos 
but not in the least rude crowd gathering round me in the * hall ' 
of the inn, I stood in the midst, and put them through a good half 
hour's questioning : as usual, I found the smallest boys the most 
intelligent, and the elderly men the most stupid. I also learnt 
from a communicative lad that 13,000 yin or 65,000 tons of Fa- 
shun salt^ passed through E'i-kiang every year. Formerly the 
K*i-kiang'.Magistrate (he said) made Tls. 10,000 a year out of this 
transit trade, but the new Government transport system had now 
knocked^all^this on the head. 

Leaving Kan Shui, you cross a bridge over a small tributary 
of the E*i-kiang river, which latter here goes off to the south- 
east, the tributary turning south-west. Our road was along ths 
right bank of the tributary, which is enclosed by high hills form- 
ing a gorge-like glen. We gradually ascended the bank higher 
and higher until we could trace the tributary from its source about 
ten miles to the west. The mountain scenery grew wilder and 
almost grand, as, from the top of the ridge we were mounting, ws 
looked back and surveyed the road we had traversed. The hills 
behind looked like huge ripples on a giant shore, running east 
and west, and amongst the most prominent was Niu-kin Shan to 
the west. In the morning we had only seen the northern peak, 
hut now we could see the whole mountain. As we ascended, we 
passed four iron furnaces, close together, on the left bank of ths 



Jforth Kwei Chou. 961 

tributary. F*'r tome reaaon they do not work iron in the four 
■uminer montht. 

At T*ai-kung P*a, 40 /t from Tteng-tti, tbero aro two extra- 
ordinarily icood inoa, with quite a buatling appearanee. I pre- 
aame that the true explanation ia that, where boat traTelling ia 
iropoMible, inni improTe. The landlord told me that in K*i.kiang 
the land-tax waa paid by the mun^ (or imm) inatead of by the k*u>ai 
or * lump.' It waa arranged in three qualifying olaaaea, and 
taxed accordingly, at from 60 to 200 oaah the mu, (^ acre) ; hut 
he anid that, although K'i-kiang only ooUeoted about Tla. 3,000 
nominal land-Ux, in fact Tla. 20,000 to Tla. 30,000 were gathered 
under Tarioua apeoioua namea. 

Our oourae now ran eaat until we arrived at Hwang-ni Ngao, 
a abort diatance beyond whioh a road to Ch*ing Tang 8i in Naa- 
eh*nan runa north down a Talley whioh we paated on our left, wa 
ouraeWea reaching the aummit of a connecting ridge at Chiu-p'an- 
tai, 12 1% from T*ai-kung P*u. Here I made diligent enquiriae for 
a trib« of Miao-tai who I knew li?ed near here, and, haying aacer- 
tained their aurnamea, (Haiung, Ku, and Taao), found a Tillagar 
who undertook to introduce me to the litiunga. Juat at that 
moment up came the whole Haiung family, men and wi?ee, with 
loada of coal on their backa. I at once made the men unatrap and 
engage in a philological diacuaaion over aundry cupe of tea, which 
ciyilized China waa made to bring to the barbariana. The wo- 
men wore a petticoat like a Scutch kilt, with nothing elae on their 
lega but bandagea tied round the ahank, aa ia uaual with 8i Ch'uaa 
cooliea. Their head-dreaa waa a aort of white crownleaa flower- 
pot-like bandage or turban, and their eoata, or upper parts of 
the kilta, were not diflerent from Ohineee coata. Tha jnen wera 
dreaaed much like Chineee, with ptgtaila. Thia waa only a ragged 
lot of immigranta, ao that the opportunity of atudying their dreea 
and mannera waa not very fa?ourable. Howe?er, I obtained a 
good number of worda from the two men, who aeemed delighted to 
hear their own language correctly pronounced by a atranger. 
Their tonea are aix, and reaemble exactly the Hakka tones; bat I 
had not time to go deeply into their ayatem or into the gram- 
mar. They aaid they had no writing of their own« An in- 
telligent little Chinese boy aged 16, who walked with ms for 



S62 Up the lan^-fse, 

tlie next five miles, told me that he had seen n ambers of 
Miao-tsz on his trayels with his father. He said that brides 
went to meet their grooms mounted on ' yellow ' (<.e, ordinary) 
cows, holding a parasol or umbrella over their own heads. He also 
said they were all buried in coffins. I hope to hear and see more 
of the Miao-tsz anon. 

Descending into another valley, we crossed a bridge over 
another creek-like tributary of the K'i-kiang river at Kwan-yin 
Ch*iao-*rh, and, turning east, came one mile further to Kwan-yin 
Ch4ao village, which, again, stands on a creek running into the 
first-named creek. Neither of these creeks can be of topographical 
importance. 

The vegetation of to-day differed little from that of yesterday. 
I noticed what looked to me like a beech-tree, which the peasant 
called Fn-yen or HtDang-tien ; and another tree, which neither I 
nor my followers recognized, called locally the Ho-pao-rh hwa. 
Just before crossing the Kwan-yin Bridge, we observed a road 
running off west to Ngan Wo-pa or Ngan-shdng Chiang, whence 
(I was told) most of the Ch'ung-k4ng goats are obtained. Near 
here we met some very fine white goats. At Kan Shui I was 
informed that there is a considerable industry in Shnn-sz, or ' wild 
silk,' obtained from an insect which feeds on the ch^ing-kang, (As 
stated by the Shanghai Delegates), this wild silk, (he said), was all 
exported to Ho Nan. 

Leaving Kwan-yin Ch'iao early the next morning, we followed 
the * tributary of the tributary ' in a southerly direction for about 
two miles, when our road commenced a steep ascent to the south- 
east. We must have mounted at least 8,000 feet when we arrived 
at the hamlet of Yang-kwo Lau. We could see from this eleva- 
tion the ridge of Chiu-p*an-tsz a point or two west of north. The 
country grew more and more barren, and the only crops, (which 
seemed to struggle hard for an existence), were wheat, beans, and 
peas. Yet even at the highest point there was an occasional paddy 
field, and I even saw peach trees in blossom. The chief trees 
were fir, silk-worm oak, and the Aleuntes, The last village or inn 
in Sz Ch'uan is Kiai-p*ai, which takes its name from a large slab 
a few hundred yards off, marking the southern limit of K'i-kiang. 
A mile further on is a smaller slab with the four characters 



Xorth Kivei Cliou. £63 

' Frontier uf Sz Ch'aan and Kwei Chou.* There ii no particular 
o«>ntiguration of the ground which seems to call for a limit here, 
unless it be that a line almost due south from the slab would lead 
to the summit of a prominent peak called Miao-lung Shao. At 
soon as ever you pass into Kwei Chou, the land becomes almost 
absolutely barren, though no opportunity seems to have been lost 
of securing a few yards of wheat or beans. The range of moun- 
tain scenery is very tine on all sides. A number of coolies were 
con?e\ing coal from a place called T*ien Pa, ten li to our left. 
The * mountain price ' {than pin) was 16 cash a load of 80 catties, 
and the selling price, after a few miles carriage, from 60 to 1*20 
oash. This coal is hard, if not anthracite, glibtens like tar or jet, 
and crumbles in the hand. It gives out no smoke, and burns so 
quickly that it has to he mixed with clay. All the villagers had 
their stock of coal, which they burnt in a low mud furnace like a 
conical cap split twice from top to bottom at right angleo. The 
ooal is called k^any-niei^ whereas the very smoky coal of K'i-kiang 
is called yxi-mei^ or *oil coal.' 

The descent into the yalley of the Sung-k*an River (i*.^. the 
K'i-kiang River) commences at Chiu-tien Ya, 20 U from Sung- 
k'an, and is simply a long flight of steps as far as Han-ohia Tien, 
halfway. The next 10 /i are through a magnificent and savage 
gorge, which is certainly the finest and wildest piece of scenery we 
have come across as yet. A summer torrent rushes through a pic- 
turesque bridge at a point called Chwa-chwa Chi, and the road is 
in some places propped up against the rocks by a mixture of brush- 
wood and stones. Here also we met a number of coolies carrying 
the same description of glossy coal from a place to our right called 
Pe-ngai Ts*ao. I was exceedingly charmed with this descent, 
which had the piquancy added of a trifle of danger from the sudden 
gusts blowing round the turns of the gorge. The first bracing air 
I have felt in these parts was on this ridge at the entrance to Kwei 
Chou. The air was delicious, haying been freshened by a night's 
rain. There must have been a difference of 15 degrees Fahrenheit 
between the ridge and the Kwan-yin Valley. 

8ung-k*an is a shabby village of considerable importance, as 
villages go in these parts. The inns were disgusting, and the 
people excessively curious, though not rude nor violent. Their 



964 Up the Yang-tse, 

ouriositj was enhanced by my 'ordering a Ifiao-taz' as a first 
step. One was unearthed at short notice, and I snooeeded in ob- 
taining from him an extensive vocabulary, which I append to this 
narrative. I now made arrangements for the descent of the river 
in open boats, — considered to be an extraordinary undertaking 
for a decent man. How it is to succeed the sequel will shew. 

The descent of the Sung-k*an River is a novel and highly 
interesting proceeding. We embarked in three coracles, 20 feet 
long by six broad, made of elastic planks an inch thick. No 
sooner had we started, than the men jumped from the boat into 
the water, and held her firmly as she glided swiftly down a small 
rapid. These boats have no sails, no mast, no rudder. Each is 
manned by three hardy boatmen, who either wear no trousers at 
ally or tuck them up in their waist-gear. Each is armed with a 
bamboo pike, tipped with a sort of shovel-point of iron, and with 
this they poke and shove at the rocks, or at the bottom, as the 
boats glide by. The river bed is from 20 to 100 yards wide ia 
many places ; but at this dry season the channel is often only six 
feet wide. The boats do not draw a foot of water, yet they are as 
often touching the bottom as not, and in fact go over stones which 
are actually out of the water. The wood of which they are mads 
is called h^iang-chang^ which from its appearance and name I taks 
to be a sort of camphor. No other wood, the boatmen say, is suffi- 
ciently elastic. The boats contain 320 Cliinese feet of planking at 
40 cash the foot, and cost therefore 12,800 cash ; or Tls. 10, includ- 
ing labour. The bottom consists of three planks, and each side of 
three planks, each plank fastened to the other by small iron 
clamps. As the boat are not oliocher-built, but carvel, it is 
wonderful how little they leak. The planks are about a foot 
broad, by ^ of a Chinese inch thick ; and the odd pieces go to 
patch up or join on ends, and make the whole harmonious. The 
only supports are four ribs on each side, five feet apart, and three 
eross-beams to stretch the boat, which quivers about as if a very 
coracle made of hide. Both when the water is high and when it is 
low, these boats carry but light weights, — a dozen men, or a ton 
of suit. We met a great number coming up with cages of pan-salt 
from Fu-sliun, rid K*i-kiang. Each boat carried 24 k^an, or cage- 
packages, of 80 catties each, being Lalf a pao^ or ofliGial package. 



.YtfHli Ivnri C)i<ni, 205 

of 160 catties. Fifty jmu make a yln. \\\ the time the salt gets 
to T*ung-tsz Ilitn in Kwti C'h»u, its price h.is ;;«>fn.' up from 40 to 
00 cash a catty. In (>r<lvr to l.iciiit ito tiie silt tr lilij under the 
new system which he has inauijur.itfil, the Vio-r^y Tin^ has 
employed a numher oi nu'U (o Ixire hoh'H into and ixplodo the rocks 
with gunpow ler. I'y I'.injm'rin;; li|;h!ly hut patiently ou a long 
iron chisel, th»* nun loM m«: lh«y couM h«»rt* three feet a day. 

From the monunt we wtre wtll out oi ^i^ht of Sung-k'an, we 
saw no human habitations. Cultivation Cva.^'.d, and we plunged 
into a series ot narrow hut lofty gorges c >vertd with brushwood 
and wild vtK«'*-*tion. We twibtrd r »und c<rnfrs, between stones, 
OTer rapids, thr<»u^h narrow races, alon^ broad channels in endless 
variety, n(v«r stopping? ior an ins-taut until wo reached Lung- 
ch'unn, a huniht 50 /i from Sun^-k'an. Our course was, first 
cast, then i)ort!i-(0('t, and lltiully n>>ith. Falls of one or two 
feet occurnd almo»t cv<ry hundred yurd^, and in some places 
the boats slid down at an an^le of 'JO or 30 degrees. I 
estimate that the full during 50 li from Sung-k'an to Lung-ch'uan 
must be ut Lubt 200 feet, and that bitwem Lung-ch'uan and 
She-p'i T*un 10 > fn-t. The debctnt can only be compared to that 
of some of the i^cotch trout ri>ertt. There were numerous birds ia 
the gorges : cnc o jet black diver about the ^ize of a miuah ; another 
bird like a large liueh with a red tail and a crest ; then there were 
several pretty birds of the rail kind, I saw no fish, nor heard of 
anv. The namf s of the two firiit remarkable dtscents are San T'an 
and Kau K*o-*rh. At Ta T*an the course of the torrent seeme 
barred, as y )u look north at a mountain stretching across ; but this 
is the frontier, and the .Sung-k*an Kiver suddenly turns to the left 
or west, and b* comtii the K*i-kiang rivtr. Another branch joining 
the 8ung-k*an lliver at the Ta T*an and coming from the cast it 
called the Sui-yen Ch'i, and is navigable by small boats up to 
Mo-hwa Miao. We are now in ^z Ch'uan, and commence the 
descent of one of the mcft romantic gorges it is possible to conceive : 
the sheer ^■ckfl on each side of the narrow guUey are at least GOO 
feet high, and in some places are honey-combed with the weirdest 
caves, covered with ftrns, and mosses. In others, tiny cascades of 
spray drop from a hiight of 2>>0 or 300 feet upon the boat as she 
pi^seH undtr the ov^rl. tnging cliff**. Looking back, nothing can be 



iS66 Up the Yang-tse. 

seen in the shape of water but what looks like a tiny waterfall, — 
a race, in faot, which we have just descended. In every sense bat 
one the river is unnavigable in the highest degree : it is only 
navigable in the not insignificant sense that boats can go up and 
down carrying each a ton of cargo. We should have been in a 
pretty pickle if it had come on to rain, for the boats are utterly 
uncovered and unooverable ; even when it is fine, they have to be 
baled out every half hour ; there are no resting places, and it would 
have been very cold. But, nothing venture, nothing win. The 
gorge par excellence is called Hsin Fung Tung, and is worth coming 
all the distance to see. Luug Ch'uan-tsz is a small village on the 
right bank, where we had tiffin. The fall of the river opposite this 
village must be 20 feet at least in a hundred yards. The river here 
bends to the south, then the west, and finally turns north again. 
We met people carrying the same sort of anthracite or glazed coal 
which we had seen in the 8ung-k*an gorge. Strange to say, the 
iron furnaces do not use this coal, but the half-calcined silk- 
worm-oak {he t^an)y which must cost them three times as much, as 
some coolies we met at Tseng-tsz told us they received 380 cash for 
carrying a load two days' journey to Ean-shui. The ropes which 
the boatmen use are all of coir, aud appear most excellent. They, 
as well as the boats, are put together at Kan-shui. One hin (5 
chang or 10 p^ai) of | inch coir ropo costs 240 cash, i.e. about a 
penny a fathom. One coil is made fast to a ring in the bows ; 
another to one of the cross-beams amidships ; and a third to the 
stern. Thus the boat can be pulled either backwards or forwards 
by one, two, or three men, exercising difi'erently-directed forces. 
There is a hole in the stern, through which a short sweep is worked 
as a rudder when the depth of the water permits it. In some places 
there are several hundred yards of fine river, and then not only the 
stern sweep, but a long side oar is also worked. The country 
opened out a little after we kft Lung Ch'uang-tsz, and scraps of 
cultivation began to shew. At T*iao-jii Tung there was an iron 
furnace, and a road to Chiu-p'an-tsz, (where we had seen the first 
Mioa-tsz), eight li away. A large iron pot with handles, &o., in 
fact a cauldron holding at least a gallon, only cost 200 cash, or 10 
pence. The statements of the simple boatmen may be compared 
with those made by the crowd at Kun-shui. The boatmen said the 



Xorih Kwei aiou. 267 

furnace lioeocet were TU. M ; the ihevvg pan iron 2800 CMh the 200 
oattiet, and the pi^-iron 3400 oath. 

At a rapid called Kwa-hwan((-*rh, 50 /< from She-p'iT'an, our 
dettination, there was a road to Pc-shih T'ang, 20 /i awaj. At 
T8*a-t'a-*rh there was another furnace, and a road to Chiu-p'an-tsz, 
8 U off. Our course contiuued north-west, and we passed a re* 
markable boulder on the right bank called Sha-mau Shih or * Flap 
Hat liock.' It looked remarkably like an old Irish hat, and had a 
tiny temple perched on the top of it. We now saw Kan-shni before 
us to the west, and soon passed the mouth of the creek along whioh 
we had a few days before so laboriously olimbed. In another hoar 
we reached 8he-p*i T*an, and I walked round by the rlTer to 
Tbcog-tsz whilst the chairs went across. The rapids between these 
two places are so danf^erous that eTen the camphor wood boats will 
not readily venture down : but now the Viceroy Ting and the 
OoTemor Ts'en* (Kwei Chou) have united to clear this riTer of its 
obstructions ; and, doubtless, before long it will be free all the way 
from K*i.kiang. 

I walked, as I say, along the bank from Shdp'i T*aa to 
Tieng-tf>z Ch'ani^ in order to inspect a portion whioh waa said to be 
impas*able. Certainly the rapids looked more serious than anything 
our light boats had passed over, and traffic did not appear to have 
begun yet ; but efforts had recently been made to clear away some 
of the rocks, so that perhaps before another year shall have elapsed, 
these obstacles will disappear. Lower down, at a place called Kai- 
shih Tung, passage is entirely barred for a distance of foar &'• 
Some say the river here enters the ground ; others that a portion of 
the banks has fallen across. I regret that I did not persist in 
inspecting this portion, (which consist of a 100 /i bend between 
Tti*cg-tsz and K*i-klang), if only to dispel illusions. HoweTer, 
the threatening state of the weather rendered it anwise to trast too 
long to open boats. 

From Tsong-tsz Ch'ang to K*i-kiang we re-traversed the road 
we had taken in coming, and found that during the past few days 
many of the poppies had burst into flower. At K*i-kiang there 
were n9 comfortable travelling boats to be hired, that it, oomfortable 

• Now Viceroy o! Yiin Kwei. 



2GS Up the Tahg-fse, 

even from a Chinese point of view. As I was determined to sail 
down the river, even though it should be astride of a plank, I hired 
a large sampan ; the only protection against the inclemencies of the 
weather furnished by which was a sort of semi-circular mat, open 
at both ends, extending eight feet or so along the middle part of 
the boat. It took us three days to reach Ch'ung-k'ing in this 
comfortless abode ; and, the weather having now changed to a dull 
drizzle, with the thermometer at 45 Fahrenheit, we expiated during 
this period the gratifications experienced whilst triumphantly 
enjoying a fine walk in'tine spring weather to the borders of Ewei 
Chou. But, with a Bologna sausage in his pocket, and a sheep-skin 
* to his back,' no reasonable man ought to find things anywhere much 
amiss as long'as^he can keep dry. My miserable followers huddled 
together like so many pigs, and, as is usually the case with China- 
men under desperate circumstances, lost all energy. Some of the 
chairmen even took to walking across country in order to k eep 
warm, an almost unheard-of thing for a Chinese to do when he has 
a conveyance provided for him. The boatmen on this river are for 
the most part a fine brawny-limbed race of men, and, owing to the 
necessity of jumping into the water from time to time, usually go 
without trousers even in the coldest weather. From the moment 
you leave K*i-kiang, a succession of awkward and shallow rapids 
has to be passed, and, in most cases, although the river is pretty 
wide, the channel in the rapids is only sufficiently broad for oHe 
boat to pass at a time. The great nuisance of this river therefore 
is the having to wait whilst an assemblage of upward and down- 
ward junks blunders through. This happened to us several 
times between K'i-kiang and Pe-tu Ch'ang, 2) li down the 
river; and at Ch'iao chia K'ou, 15 //further down, we were detained 
three hours whilst three junks ahead, and our own, were lifted and 
pushed inch by inch over rocks awkwardly situated right in the 
worst part of the rapid. As there were three dozen upward and 
downward junks awaiting tlieir turn when we arrived, it is for- 
tunate that our privile^'c as an * oflicial boat' allowed us to steal a 
marcli, or we sliould have bcfn dot lined for two or three days. 
At this ])uint^the kit hank beloni^'s to K'i-kiang Hien, and the 
right to Kiang-tijing. Tlie boats used on this river are almost all 
of one build, and easily distinguished from the long junks of 



XoHh Ami Chou. 260 

the Ilo Chou River, or the crookecl-sttrned junks of the Kung-t'an 
Uiver at Fu Chou. Thty are about 35 feet loiii^, and about six 
or seven feit in the beam, very btron^^ly built, having a squat 
appearance, with the bow murh low»rthan the stern, which has 
no covered p<»op. MastK are only us(d for towing purposes by up- 
ward junks. Th»' c^iief trtide is, upwards, in salt, all from the 
Th/-)iu Thing well in Ku-shun, and all transhipped at Kiang K'ou 
at the mouth of the K'i-kiang Uivt r. Kach river boat carries one 
1/iH, or 50 packages of KJO cuttits inch, and the selling price per 
catty at K'i-kiong is only 42 to 45 cnhh, or about five cash dearer 
than at Ch'ung-k'ing. The downward trade is in coal and 
oranges, a fruit ior which Kiang-thing in famous. All along the 
batiks we noticed plantations of orar^'e trees. They require 
manuring once a year, in the spring, after the autumn- 
winter crop has been gathered in ; at.d at this time also care haa 
to be taken to destroy a grub known as the lau mu chUauj^ which 
burrows into the trunk and the roots, and is destroyed by ex- 
perienced hands with the help ot an tiwl or style. The river takes 
many bends between K'i-kiang and Kwung-t»in Ch'ang (in Kiang- 
tbing), 40 li from the former city, but its gtnerul course is north- 
west. The banks on both sides are at tirst riftky, but sufliciently 
cultivated ; and, as the hills become more undulating, the scenery 
compares with that oi the Min at Foochow. Anywhere but in \iz 
Ch'uan, whtre the eje soon btcomts ch»yed with mountain scenery 
oi the rural and fertile type, the views would be considered ua- 
uiually champing. We oLchorcd at Fo-i:iu Ch'ang, a market town 
belonging again to K*i-kiung, utd i-ituattd on the lift bank. Soft 
or smoky C(<al is obtained in the ntiKhbourho<>d of the town. 
The admirable' coke kiiown as the xttfuj-yau Van comes from a 
place on the Fu-t'ou Uivcr, 20 /i ulovc 2^an Ch'i, at which lait 
place, 30 li above K'i-kiarg, the Fu-t'ou Kivtr joins the K*i- 
kiang Uivcr. There appears to be no c«»ncord whatever in the 
positions which published maps assign to the K'i-kiang River and 
its tributaries, the last mention' d one alone of which I haTt 
not seen with my own eyes. But the skipper gave me iuch a 
clear acc"unt of it that I feel convinced the above description it 
true. He said it was navigable at least up to the point mentioned, 
and ran into the District of Nan-ch'uan. I saw nothing whatever 



270 Up the Yang'tse. 

of any tributary on the left bank, except such as is hereinafter 
mentioned. 

The next place we passed was Wa-ts'a Ts'a, 70 li from K4- 
kiang, and 10 li farther on Chia-tsz Ch'iao, 70 li from Eiang K'oa 
at the mouth, both places belonging to Eiang-tsing. After 
travelling another hour or more we came to Siao-ho Pa, which place, 
we were disgusted to find, was still 70 li from the embouchure^ 
owing to a bend taken by the river. I noticed a number of willowa 
on the bank {ma-liit) just bursting into leaf, and was told that the 
wood was utilized as fuel in the manufacture of gunpowder. We 
oame across smoky coal mines again at Chieh-lung Gh*ang, about 
35 li by land, and 45 by water from Eiang E'ou, and here noticed 
rafts of coffin planks of pine {sha) and cypress (pe). At Miao-ohi- 
tsz, further down, but still 40 li from the mouth, large iron salt- 
pans are manufactured for the celebrated factories at K'ien Wei 
and Fu-shun, higher up the Yangtsz. They are about five feet in 
diameter, and weigh 12,000 catties a-piece, the cost being Tls. 52. 
Charcoal alone is used in the manufacture. Just below this town 
I saw a number of fishing cormorants (called here lao-wa) being fed 
on a bank in the river. They looked like a cross between a wild 
goose and a small vulture, as they stood flapping their wings in ex- 
pectation of a morsel of bean-curd. Lower down, at the double rapid 
of Men-ch^uan-tsz, there are sheer falls of two and three feet, and 
great care has to be taken to steer or * sweep ' between the imminent 
rooks. The whole channel of this river abounds in sunken rocks, 
every one of which appears known to the hero of the bow-sweep. In 
the swiftest rapid this powerful instrument can turn a short K'i- 
kiang junk round in half its length : indeed, we frequently turned 
three or four corners in one rapid, bumping and straining in a way 
which would break up a longer boat. The * sweep-man' was a 
remarkably handsome fellow, with a most intelligent and well- 
chiselled face, and I could not help admiring his steadiness and 
nerve as he manoeuvred us along. 

Chou-wu Ch*ang and Jon-t*o-t6Z, 25 and 10 ?i respectively 
from Kiang K'ou, and both on the right bank, are the chief centres 
of the salt-pan manufacture. Thousands of pans were lying on the 
bank, but 1 had not an opportunity of inspecting the moulds. 
The manufacture is said to be a monopoly in the hands of two 



XorUi Kivei Chou. 271 

families. Tub&coo thoott were beiog re-planted along the banks, 
after having been carefully reared under cover during the winter. 
Large junks carrying rough iron {ihcngpan) from T'ung-lo Hsia 
(Blakiston's * In)n Gorf^e *) now put in an appearance, with large 
cargoes of sheet iron for the salt-pan manufacturies just mentioned. 
The river takes another great bend at Chin-sha Chai, whence a 
river called the Lung-tuog Ho runs in a southerly direction to 
8ha-t'an ChM, 100 /i distant, navigable for small junks all the way. 
Chin-sha Chai is ratht-r a conspicuous fortress crowning a hill, in 
the manner so common in 8z Ch'uan. Opposite this place I 
witnessed some otter fibbing. The fisherman throws a large net 
from the bows of his craft into the water, and the otter, which it 
chained by the neck to the boat, dives down to pick up the fiHh. 
The otters thcmselvts are caught by placing a net at the orifice of 
their caves or lairs, and throwing it over them when, impelled by 
hunger, they venture forth. 

The river, after various turns, enters the Ta IIo or Yang-tsi at 
Kiang K'ou, a considerable market-town on the right bank of both 
rivers. The banks of the K'i-kiang river near its month are low 
and muddy, as is also the water for the last few miles ; from which 
it is plain that at this season the level of the Yang-tsz must be 
higher. After passing the rapid of Chi-hsing Shih, where some 
awkward rocks lie in mid-channel, we entered what Blakiston calls 
the ' Limestone Pass/ passing a oi>nsidcrable market-town called 
T'u-kwan Yi, situated on the left bank. Orange orchards covered 
buth banks, in some placet at far as the eye could reach, and 
fringed the crests of the rugged hills. Kiang-tsing Hien (the 
Kiang-taze of Blakiston) seems to have almost a monopoly of the 
loose-skinned orange trade {kan l$z). In K'i-kiang, coolie oranges 
(rJiin tsz), and lemons (chih-kico), are grown, and loose-skinned 
oranges are grown on the frontiera ; but Kiang-tsing is /Mir excelUn^t 
the place of production for Si Ch*uan. Coal and lime were being 
worked together at Lo-hwang Bhih (right bank) and Pi^sha T'o 
(left bank) as when Blakiston passed. lie calls these plaoes Lo- 
whan-chi and Pa-sha-do respectively. A little further down, we 
left Chti-t'ing Sz (BUkiston's Kin-tin-tsze) on oar left, and passed 
Yii-tang Ch*ang oo our right. This latter place is evidently the 
village of which Blakiston i>ars he failtd to get the name. Just 



S72 Up the Yang-tse. 

below the town there is a notice bj the District Magistrate, carved 
into the rocks, forbidding junks to anchor on either bank of the river. 
The last town of any s'ze is Ta-tu K*ou on the left bank, 
and a few miles further duwn tou sight the pagoda on the hill 
opposif*^ rh*ung-k*ing. Then tlie West Tower comes into view ; joa 
descend an angry-looking rapid a mile above the town ; your nos- 
trils are assailed by sundry raalijj:nant odours ; and (if yoa are 
unlucky enouj^h to live at Ch*uug-k*ing) you return to the dungeon 
whence vou came. 



The foUowinsf Miao-tsz words are given, just as I took them 
down, with all th-ir imperfections. To change, round, or em- 
bellish them would be to do what each reader with a taste for phi- 
lology can do for himself. The asterisked words are those which I 
happened to ask both of the two Miao-tsz, and the words marked 
with a cross are evidently taken from the Chinese. The ^A is as 
in Irish. The Teh as in choose* The ou as in though. The tA, 
when preceded by sh or Tch^ as in Sir Thomas Wade's shih or cAtA, 
Otherwise, as in yih^ the A final merely marks the entering tone. 



Teeth 


Naghpo* 


Teats 


Mi 


Tooth 


Nha 


Breast 


K*hao-tchu 


Nose 


Nkantchu 


Hand 


Tieh 


Nose 


Kiangtchu 


Hand 


To-niti (Pfingers) 


Fingers 


Niti 


? The 


Lo or To 


Fingers 


Nyaliti 


Mid-linger 


Lenya-niti 


Thumb 


Nan-niti 


Toes 


Ni-teu 


Thumb 


To-na-liti 


Tonj^ue 


Mhlei 


Fofeli'igor 


>'io-iii(i 


Armpits 


K'hao-tchou 


F«)retiugt'r 


;Via-liti 


Vt'ins 


Aling 


Ears 


K'haung zhe 


1 1 1 • 

oain 


N^ha-tou 


Kiirs 


Lull zho 


Blood 


N^tch'ang 


Hair 


ri'»u-h()U* 


Arm 


Ts'em-pang 


Nails 


Tou-ti 


Arm 


Tie-tch'ao 


Nulls 


Tchou-tie 


Log 


Tchogh-lou 


liearvl 


Ilu-tszf 


L-g 


Ngieka 


IJeard 


Fii-t.szt 


(i'U'ue 


To-raao-Tah 


Nfdv 


Kial-la 


Mouth 


Ngiou (? Lips) 


Nf(5k 


Tuhak-lang 


Mouth 


Nghaniou 


Tlin.at 


Tehao-pung 


Eyes 


Lum mao 


Chieks 


Ap-lhou 


Evi'S 


N^ha mo 


Chin 


Kou-tchai 


Tail 


Otchoka 


Foreht'ad 


lluu-pla-plong 


Milo parts 


A pi an g 


Ihdly 


Aphiri;;^ 


Kemalo parts 


Yak aplang 


IJaik 


.N Ifio-kou 


Tf.'itioles 


N-i.kang^r Thigh) 



Jforth Kwei Chou. 



t7S 



Ramp 


Pao-ta 


White 


Klen 


BODM 


Ngam-bang 


Blaek 


Kloa-a 


Joints 


Lokati 


Blue 


Ndjo 
Nola 


Wrift 


Lokloti 


Oreen 


Lipt 


Ngion 


Old 


Yea 


Thigh 


Ngiekan^ 


Yoang 


Niaghlo 
Taoh 


Knee 


Hoa-tohiou 


Moaatain 


Foot 


Ten 


Water 


Lie 


Trooaen 


Lo Ha-tehi 


Water 


Rlei 


Socks 


Tt'hai-t*hao-k'hutEaHh 


Ko-loh 


Uat 


LoMaof 


EaHh 


Kwo-lah 


Cost 


Lo-Toh*ao thang 


Wood 


Ntung 
A-tsah 


Msn 


Tii-Ding 


Wood 


Man 


IliaoU 


Tree 


Ntung 


Woman 


Apo« 


Hot 


Kwo 


Child 


Ngia-to* 


Cold 


Tsa-isa 


Maid 


Nien-tsai 


Big 


Ohla 


Father 


Tii 


Small 


Yon 


Mother 


Na 


Old 


Tsi 


Mandarin 


No 


YoQOg 


Na 


Chineee 


8hwa« 


Quick 


Oh^-Uh 


Miao-tsi 


Hmong 


Slow 


Ta-ma^h 


MUo-tsi 


Kan-a-kon* 


Clean 


Foan-djeh 


Lolo 


Ngan-tohih 
AOng 


Clean 


Tdh4eh-ho 


Pa-i 


DirtT 


Tohih-ho 


Foreigner 
Names or tri-^ 


Hmong Yin 


DiHj 
Good 


Kh*hen-dj« 

Jang 

Tohfli.Jang 


bes of thel 


K<ha-tehia 


Bad 


two speak* l 


K*hogh-mao 


High 


Sha 


ers J 




Low 


Keng 


Shoes 


K'hon 


One 


Shoh 


Trousers 


A-tohih 


Two 


Awn 


KUt (NaUfs) 


Ta 


Three 


Pie 


Head-dress 
Wind 


Shwa-tohing 
Kio 


Poor 
FiTS 


TIplonwn 
Kftehih 


Air 


Pftog 


SU 


Kitehok 


Sun 


Teh'attg*ta 


Serea 


ITiaKUny 


Moon 


Ah-lhi 


Bight 


KiTih 
KiUoh 


Stars 


No-ku 


Nine 


HsaTSB 


KUm 


Ten 


Kikon 


N.8.B.W. 


As in Chinees 


BUren 


Konyi 


Rain 


Loh-na 


Twelve 


Konan 


Snow 


Lnog.boa 


Thirteen 


Konpin 


Frost 


Kkm 


Foorteen 


Konj^on 
KonUhUi 


Night 


Kang-doh-U 


lilteen 


BarlT 




Sixteen 


Kontnhon 


Tehonng-doh-U 


Serenteen 


Kon shinng 


Light 


Poh^ 


Bighteen 


Konyih 


Dark 


Yoh-teboa*nab 


NineUea 


Kontehioh 


Yellow 
Bed 


Klaag 
U 


Thirty 


Ningkon 
PUUen 



27^ 



Up the lang-tae. 



fi 



Forty 


Ploa kiou 


Table 


Fifty 


Tchih tchioa 


Knife 


Sixty 


Tchou tchiou 


Tea 


Seventy 


Shiang tchioa 


Table (the) 


Eighty 


Yih tchiou 


Drink Tea 


Ninety 


Kioh tchioa 


Eat {? rice) 


Hand red 


Yipoh 


Eat 


Thousand 


In Tchoh 


Drink Water 


Myriad 


Yi want 


Spoon 


I 


Ngio 


Give 


You 


Haghatchai* 


Give 


He 


Ma 


Wash 


Yes 


Yaolo 


Rub 


No 


Tchih yao 


Write 


Not 


Tchih 


Write 


This 


Tou-ning 


Beat 


That 


Tou-ning 


Beat 


Which is mine 


? Lushao kaoni 


Sleep 


Which is yours 


? Lusha kouni 


Wake 


How many ? 


Hao-nou 


Ride (horse) 


Many men 


Tenento 


See 


Dog 


Li 


See 


Dog 


Kliou 


Hear 


Cow 


Nioh* 


Hear 


Horse 


Ning* 


Give birth 


Sheep 


Tch»ih* 


Walk 


Fowl 


Ea 


Run 


Cook 


Loka* 


Sit 


Hen 


Poka* 


Kneel 


Pork 


Mpwa 


Dead 


Bird 


Niao-nu 


To smell 


KpTg 


Kai 


Stink 


Ahs 


Kien-du 


Sweet 


Mule 


Lo-tszt 


Paper 


Milk 


Mai 


Paper 


Cows' Milk 


Nao-mai 


Writing 


liico 


Nja 


Pencil 


Hoans 


Tout 


Pencil 


Wheat 


Mao 


Ink 


Unhusked Rice Mlei* 


Inkstand 


Millet 


Kantchoh 


Candle 


Sugar 


T'angt 


House 


Vegetables 


Jou 


Mat 


Oak 


N^'hamung 


Hed 


Mulberry 


Joukang 


Window 


(-hopstioks 


Tcheut 


Door 


Knife 


Ngatcha 


Saddle 


Fork 


Atch'oh 





Tehung* 
Tuteha 
Tch*haf 
To tohaog 
Hoa t4sh*hat 
Na mao 
Nao mao 
Ho kleif 

Eikao 

Naktohoolo 

Sitei 

Eou-wan-tchi 

Shoun-ta 

Shoa-neu 

Ndao 

Untoukao 

Tohu-loa 

Tchih 

Kien-ning 

Pola 

Pokie 

Hah-kii 

Nao.luh(?Ear) 

K*heDg.yueh-k 

Mung 

Nouh 

Ngiao 

T6*hoa-tohiu 

To-litt 

Na 

Tchuhf 

Kangt 

Lien-teu 

Nou 

Mie-nou 

To tchiin-tei 

Jong 

IjO mieh-tagh 

Mieh-tagh 

Tchuhf 

Lo-tchi 

Li 

Tsangt 

K'hau-tohi 

Atchung 

Eog.Ding 



The Wilds of Uu-peh. 275 

THE WILDS OF IIU-rEII. 
Of all the journejs which 1 haTe made in Sz Ch'uan, that 
which will dwell the moat Tividlj in my recollection will he the 
latt, or the ezodua. Having met with an accident which kept roe 
in cloae continement for nearly three months, I at last found it 
absolutely impossible to withstand any longer the combination of 
noise and dirt which gives Ch'ung-k'ing its priiiminence above all 
places of my ac(|uaintance, and, though the water was uncomfort- 
ably high, I determined to risk it and come away. Tba travelling 
boat known as Kwa-tn is by far the best form of oonveyance in 
going up the river ; but owing to the top-heavy cabins, this craft 
is apt to be dangerous in coming down, owing to its difficulty in 
resisting, with light draught and feeble rudder force, the attacks 
of sudden gusts of wind. With ordinary luck the journey to 
I-ch'ang can be made in seven days; but if the wind and rain do 
not necessitate stoppages, five days, or even four, will bring you 
down when the current is strong. Foreign travellers, all of whom 
abominate unnecessary delays, would do well to ignore all ezcusea 
whatever offered with the object of mooring sooner than is necessary : 
the practical objection that the hands are tired is easily removed 
by a judicious present of money ; but a more subtle one is advanced 
under multifarious pretexts and forms in order that each District 
Magistrate may prepare his formal despatch, and 'protect' the 
traveller through his jurisdictiun. This protection simply means 
that a common coolie, despatch in hand, quarters himself upon your 
boat, renders no service of any description, and prevails oo your 
boatmen to anchor at each district town. If a petty mandarin 
accompanies you, he will also detain the boat any length of time io 
order that he may levy the 400 or 600 cash with which each 
Magistrate is bound to supply him for travelling expenses. The 
Magistrate is obliged, moreover, to furnish boats for tlie mandarin 
and fur the runner who carrita the despatch, at forced prices; so 
that it is the interest of the victim of the cot tie as well as that of 
the unwelcome passengers to arrange the waiving of this matter 
between them. In short the escort so ostentatiously provided is 
often rather a nuisance than a protection, and the cost of it some- 
how generally falls opoo the foreigner. The best sort of boat to 
oome down io is that known as the Wu-pan^ a safe, speedy, and 



976 Up the Yang-tse. 

roomy oonTeyanoe, the chief objeotion to which is that the ooTeiing 
is only of mat, and secares little priTaoy. The first day's joamey 
ought to bring yoa to Fa Chou at least, and the seoond, with good 
Inokj to Wan Hien. Thence to K*wei Kwan one more day, and it 
seldom takes more than two days to get from K'wei Kwan to 
I-oh'ang. 

The dangers of the water route vary according to the height of 
the river. At low or mid water there is nothing to fear between 
Ch'ung-k'ing and K'wei Kwan, bat at high water the rapids of 
Ch*iin-cha, just below Fa Chou, and Ha T*att, 10 miles above Wan 
Hien, are decidedly dangerous. At high water the appearance of a 
dangerous rapid is nothing like what a dangerous rapid preaents at 
low water. Nearly everything is covered ; there is no rushing or 
roar; but yawning whirlpools, and what may be called oonvez 
whirlpools, — A;t<-/ln,^ften make it most difficult for a boat to 
steer her course clear of obstructions. The hu-fk^t or * belchings 
of water,' are said to be caused by the current spiking agaiaat 
some deeply submerged rock ; the water, suddenly arreeted, foroeo 
its way up, and appears on the surface in the form of a raised 
gyrating mass, which often pitches the largest boats into a whirl- 
pool, or A wO'U'aOf — a trough also caused by irregularitiea in the 
oonfiguration of rocks ; — an eddy ; or a p'tio 'rA, — where the water 
* cannons ' off or on to some rook. As long as no sudden gust of 
wind renders the craft unmanageable, none of the above described 
dangers are very serious where there is plenty of * sea room ;' bat 
in the gorges below K*wei Kwan it is rash to travel in any boat, 
least of all a Kwa-tiz C^'tian, unless the Yen-yu Bock, at the upper 
mouth of the gorge, is 10 feet out of the water. The saying is : 

Yen-yii ta ju ma, 
Ch*U'Vang pu k*o Aia. 

Or— 

When the llook is like a horse. 

You may not take a downward course. 

The Ch^un-chu Rapid, 3 miles below Fu Chou, gave us very 
little trouble, though we had to anchor above it half a day owing 
to wind and rain, and were caught in the middle of it by slight 
gusts of wind. Caution was required all the way down, bnt 



T?ie Wilds of Hwpeh. t77 

nothing oalliog for tb« exercise of more than ordinnrj pmdenoe 
Intenrened nntil we came upon the Hu T'an. The appearance of 
the riTcr and the banks is so different when the water is high from 
what it is when the water is low, that I cannot at all recall tha 
aspect of the Ha T*an Rapid in December. It is said that a ridge 
diTides the stream in two, or stands in the middle of the stream at 
high water. This is at a point where the rifer turns a comer, and 
the great difficulty is to preTcnt being carried on to a huge rock or 
ridge which extends a good way out from the left bank. If a gust 
causes the boat to lose her head, or a whirlpool or ku-fin throws 
her to one side, it is a bad case, and the crew must row for their 
Utcs. Singularly enough, we did lose our head through being 
hurled aside by a whirl, and, not only that, ws snapped our bow- 
sweep in the effort to right ourselTCS. At the same moment the 
gunboat which was accompanying us, and had slowed down to 
watch our movements, got quite engulfed in a whirlpool, and went 
round and round scTcral times before the crew could get her out. 
For our craft the position she was in would haTC been a most 
dangerous one. These eyents gave us all quite a turn, and I shall 
DCTcr forget the treacherous and sayage appearance of the rapid as 
we whizsed into it round the comer, and steadily struggled with 
its waters. If the water had been a foot or two higher it would 
haye been most dangerous, and the very next day three large salt 
Junks were completely wrecked. In such oases the crew take to 
the spars, and are for the meet part picked up by the lif e-boats 
which are in lurking at the moet hasardous places. 

When we got to K*wei Kwan, the Yen-yii Bock was about 
three feet out of water, and our boatmen seemed dispoaed to go 
down. Nefortheless a large number of junks, some of which had 
stayed there a whole month, were moored off the town, waiting for 
A safe opportunity to start. It is not that the boatmen will eyer 
refuse to incur risk, no matter how great, provided a pecuniary 
consideration is given ; but the supercargoes naturally object to 
risking several thousand pounds* worth of property in prefertnee to 
waiting a few days ; and time is of no conseqaenee to any Chineee. 
The great point with the akipper is to avoid having to pay a few 
hundred cash a day extra for the maintenance of his idle ersW| and 
the great point with the crew is to get down to I-ch'ang as aoon at 



278 Vp the Tang-tse. 

pMubU is order ia re-«ng«^ tkemiclTea «n • ymntj n 
downwrnrdi the-; RMiTe little beaide* their food. 

Oar tkipper thoaghl it prudent tti spend » da}- extra in 
to allow the water to go down, and at the nine Um* ta t 
•boat two tuDi of forward bdlut to the ahape «f eo*l ehnnki 
idea of taking io (tone ballaat for the nfetj of hia jnnk 
occnr* to the merteoarj Chioeae boatmao ; hnt a ballut of 
aalt appean to him a rerj proper arraDgeloent, for he can i 
coal mixture at a profit of two caah the Inmp at I-eh'an 
official a«ked my pennitsioo to store on board, for mj adi 
•afetj, a little extra ballast in the shape of half a toa 
deatined for his fanilj, which request I granted on the 
atanding that if asj qneation were raised at the likia offi 
oame ahould be tendered at the owner. I need hardlj mj t 
fears for mj safety at ODce Taniahed, and hia family had 
seat to then. 

Well, the Ten-jii Eoek was coTercd the next day, ti 
after jank aniTing from the west moored off the town wai 
safe opportunity. Heary rajos came on, and the water ro 
six, then ten, then twenty, and finally forty feet in six d 
was in despair, for I was exceedingly anxioos to get away i 
a European face once more, but saw no chance whateTor of 
for a fortnight. At one lime 1 had even thoughts of itril 
K'ai Hien aod Shen Si, thence coming down by the Han rii 
uaaa] way overland to J-ch'ang by the north bank was, it w 
rendered impracticable by mountain torrents rushing with 
force into the gorges. Not even a life boat would think of 
ing down the river when the water In the narrows seetl 
raged with mad fury. Crowds ol idle boatmen, loitering al 
banks in the same plight as myself, made a further stay a 
K«an absolutely intolerable. The situation was indeed de 
and I almost groaned with ennui and impatience, I 
medicines, no good food, no tobacco, no wine, nothing to 
the inner man in case sickness should come on. Alter ti 
confinement I yearned Ui be up and doing, but tbe crowds 
rein rendered walking rather a penance than a pleasn 
active life in any form, with whatever hardships, was bet 
that, and accordingly 1 set about making enquiries whethe 



Tlie WihU of Hu'peh. »79 

pOMible to get to I-ch*ang by the south bank. It was ; bat the 
road for the first few days was one almost untrodden by travellers ; 
the inns were bad, the torrents were difficult to cross ; and, finally, 
tliere were fourteen stages, the shortest possible time to get over 
which, in fine weather, was nine days. Never was I in such a 
predicament, and never before did I feel such an intolerable sense 
of imprisonment. I gave the summary order to depart, wet or fine, 
at daylight next morning, and after some trouble succeeded in 
finding a het of coolies willing to undertake the job. They were 
guaranteed by the famous Yang-tsz post-office, Hu-wan-ch*ang, 
which runs with such punctuality between Flankow and Ch*ung- 
k'ing; and, indeed, to Peking, Canton, and many other widely 
separated towns. Chuirs and frames for the stowage of baggage 
{hiug) had to be prepared over night, but all other arrangements 
were concluded within a few houm, money being the one power in 
China before which delays and difficulties bend. I left all my 
bsf^goge,— everything I had in the world, — in the boat, enjoining on 
the bkip[>er that on no account was he to venture down the gorges 
until the other junks started, but feeling sure none the less that 
he would contider the saving of two or three days' rice for a d(»zcn 
men of more importance than the safety of my baggage. During 
the night it rained most pitilessly, and I could think of nothing 
but the hideous prospect of another day*s delay. It seemed im- 
possible that even gain could tempt Chinamen to start under such 
unfavourable circumstances. I could not sleep a wink, and long 
before day-break I was up gazing at the clouds, looking for the 
chairs; and wondering how on earth it was that misery oould 
consist in such a paradox : — the impossibility of abandoning repose 
and comparative comfort, or at least plenty, for hard travelling, 
hard fare, filthy inns, rain, slutch, and every imaginable difficulty. 
Yet such it was. Here at least was something to be done ; some 
difficulty to overcome ; some determination to be shewn ; and I 
could hardly contain myself with joy when I saw the chaira and 
the kangi on the other side of the creek in the pelting rain, and 
found my escort not only ready but only too glad to exchange a 
little land travelling for the life on board a gunboat. The gun- 
boat captain was glad because he and hit crew would save them- 
selves the trouble of hauling the gunboat up from I-ch'ang,— a 



tSO Up the Yang'ise. 

matter of a rooDth with the water in ita present state. MoreoTer, 

any repairs to their boat had to oome out of their own pockets, and 

the last time they had escorted a natiTO mandarin down, they had 

lost eyerything hut the hall of their boat on the way up again, 

owing to its overturning whilst straggling up against a rapid. It 

was therefore arranged that the captain and two marines should 

oome with me ; that four more should help my boat down when 

the water should have sufficiently gone down ; and that six should 

remain in charge of the gunboat and of my boat until she should 

leave. The civil mandarin was glad because he liked the idea of 

seeing a little more of the world at some one else's expense ; beoause 

ho was a trifle nervous about the rapids ; and because, anyhow, he 

would travel up and down quicker by land than by water. The 

naval hero's baggage consisted of absolutely nothing but a sword 

and a heavy pair of mud boots : the civilian, more luxurious, took 

his bedding and several changes of clothes. My servant and the 

two soldiers took absolutely nothing, and I myself took only what 

was imperatively necessary in the way of clothes, and a few things, 

such as books and documents, which it would be impossible to 

replace. We crossed in a miserable ferry boat the creek which 

separated our anchorage from the prefectural town of E'wei-choa 

Fu, and after a quarter of an hour's tying, weighing, arranging, 

and dividing, carried on io the pelting rain, started off in a long 

procession through the city, emerging at a miserable wharf or 

flight of steps a mile higher up stream. The spectacle of so many 

chairs and of the marines in our escort at once drove off the few 

likely boats which were moored alongside; and some time was 

spent in coaxing, one after the other, the most unpromising of frail 

craft to undertake the conveyance of our party across the swollen 

river. We had to creep slowly up the left bank for about a mile, 

then row hard across, and finally bring up at what looked like a 

mountain pathway just opposite the wharf from which we had 

started. I shall never forget the feeling of intense relief with 

which I bounded stick in hand on to the muddy bank, and the 

exhilarating sense of liberty with which I deliberately oommeneed 

to plod in the drizzling rain. The summer river at E'wei Chou is 

probably not more than 400 feet above the sea, and we mounted 

that day 676 metres above the high flood level, though there were 



Tlic Wilds of Uu'peh. 281 

many ups and downs on the way. There was nothing which struck 
me as being of exceptional interest on the road ; and even if there 
had been, I was so full of the obborbin<i^ idea of advancing home- 
wards that I had no appetite for novelty of any description. 

We passed no villa;;es, nothing bnt rustic dwelling-houses at 
rare intervals : the land wan r'cky and poor, thinly and sparsely 
wooded, little cultivatv«l, and disrniil with incessant rain. We 
tiHik our mi Mav ri-froshTnt-nt at a wretched hovtd where there was 
nolliiiig hut mai/.o tc) b<» prinure«i, — not even a pKnilhlul of veget- 
ables. Tlnre was so littU* a« c»mmodation and >pico for man or 
beabt that I made my nu-.i! ot a ('liiokeu I"g held in the fingers, 
helped down with apitcfuf hardbake. A pi;:, a cat, and some 
fowls wuittd respectlully by my hi le for any frn;»ments I might 
throw away. NVi* bi-^ran our di set iit along the tide of a narrow 
gorge down wliich, and down a himilar one opp< »ite to which, were 
rualtiiig mu-ldy ui'uutaiii t'irn-ntr*. Thesu j 'iu a mile or so 
further on, and f.»rm the Ta-tu Kiver or rivulet, crobsfd by a ferry 
Qt Ta-tu JC'ou, 'J.*) metr«;» higher tliin the (ireat Uivcr as we crossed 
it at K'wticljou Fu, and running into the Ch*ii-t*ang or K*wei 
OorfTe. In the wii.ter time, and, in tact, always when the weather 
is not wet, the Ta-tu Kiver is a harmless, cletr stream ; but now it 
was a raging tuireut litty yards wi'Ie, and ju«>t htdow the ferry 
became a rough and roaring rapid. The accommodation at Ta-tu 
K*ou was of the humblest dt-scription. One single room only, in a 
group of halt a do/t-n or so of mud huts, was set apart for the 
reception of travellers. The furniture of this room consisted of a 
rough Wooden c</urh covered with the ordinary grass mat or mat- 
tress, and absolutely nothing else. Into this room I was ushered, 
whilst the civil and the military mandarins wofully contemplated 
the prospect of bleeping oo the bare ground or on the oil-outa 
which were piled up in the corners. I bad contemplated with io- 
ditlvrence a little misery if only to shake off the effeota of pro- 
longed confinement, but I confess I only contemplated a qualified 
misery in peace and quietness. Fortunately there wot an oil fao- 
tory or oil-press a few doors off, and in this apartment were about 
twelve sijuare feet of space where the rain did not come io. Thia 
was the place for me, and accordingly I gaye up the ' f umiahed 
apartment ' to the mandahna, and myself made a quiet ah&kedowa 



g8S Up the Yang'tse. 

out of a couple of benches and doon. The tranqoi] solitude of this 
mountain retreat was decidedly soothing after the crowds of noisj 
boatmen at E*wei-chou. I quite reyelled in the absence of chairs 
and tables, and in the insipidity of Chinese tobaeeo. Still I roold 
not help being haunted with the thought of delays in crossing the 
riTer : the idea of not advancing onwards was more unsatisfactory 
than any hardships which Chinese poYcrty could heap upon me. 
The ferryman said he aod his ancestors had worked the ferry for 
two hundred years and more, and had ncTer lost a boat ; that if it 
did not rain in the night we miyht cross next day towards noon ; 
and that the ferry was a free one. I thought I saw an opening 
here for a little ingenuity, and I therefore asked whether by offer- 
ing a liberal reward it would not be possible by hook or by crook 
to get across early in the rooming. I would not specify the re- 
ward, but it would be so considerable that eyeryone concerned 
would be made happy. Daring the night I dreamt seyeral times 
of crossing the torrent ; but every time I woke I was relieved to 
notice that its roar was growing less. It had not rained during 
the night, and the water had gone down considerably, yet it seemed 
impossible that a frail boat could get safely across. HowcTer, 
Chinamen will risk anything for money, and shortly after day- 
light an assembly of villagers began to push the boat down over 
rollers into the wait r. The problem was to fetch, not an eddy, 
but a small recess at the other side where the water did not 
actually run dowc. Two empty chairs and a few coolies were the 
iirst load. The boat was dragged and poled up stream, and as far 
across at the same time as was possible for the draggers to wade 
safely. Then she was pushed out, poled, * yuloed,' and rowed 
across amid excited yells, drifting down the while with terrible 
rapidity, but bringing up exactly at the right spot. I could not 
help shouting out some words of encouragement as I viewed this 
manoeuvre ^om the opposite bank, a proceeding which the stolid 
Chinese seemed to regard as somewhat silly. Coming back was 
apparently easier, and was achieved in much the same way, except 
that instead of going up stream they shoved out and drifted down, 
poling up afterwards. The second load took the civil mandarin, 
two more chairs, and one of the luggage loads, and got safely over. 
All my baggage, the military mandarin and myself were reserved 



The WlUlfi of Hu-peh, tSS 

for the ^inal tflort, as bein^ Ihr'^e ' lute ' uadetirable to separata. 
This arrangement caused dissatisfaction and stupioion amoogat tha 
coolies, who seemed to think that my object was to get them and 
the chairs to tke other side, anu then bolt back to K*Wbi-ohoa. 
CroMing OTer was very exciting work : tlie wayea were so larg«« 
and the current so rapid, that a very sii^^ht shake woald have over- 
turned the boat : we even had to catch hold of the OTerhangtog 
branches at the other side in order to fetch the tiny recess, failing 
which we should have swept down the rapid and thence into the 
Yang-tsx g >rges. Now came the time for the unspeakable reward* 
I had secretly thought of a tael of silver, though I entertained 
doubts whether even that poverty-stricken population would con* 
sider such a sum suflioient to compeasate them for turning o«t 
early ia the morning and nsking their lives. What was my snr- 
firise therefore when the naval man suggested 200 cash I I over* 
heard some of the boatmen murmuring something about six persons 
in all, and, half ashamed of so small an offer, thereupon proposed 
that I should present each of the six heroes with 50 cash (fiva 
eents). This reward was eagerly accepted with every demonstra- 
tion of gratitude ; and we parted the very host of friends. 

The distance from E*wei-cho« Fa to the Ta-tn River, which 
last forms the boundary between the two districts of FAog-chieli 
and Wu-shan, is called by some fifty, by others sixty IL Tba 
river, where we crossed it to the east, was running fran tba soutli 
towards the north. 

The second day was drizxly and miserably wet andar foot. 
The climbs were steep, and the pathways diflcult ; yet I oould not 
brook the confinement of a chair, much to the disgust of the naval 
mandarin and my servant, wha felt it their duty to walk after 
me. The way in which the coolies, dad in nothing but a abort 
cotton coat and trousers, and protected from the rain by nought 
beyond a broad bamboo hat, carried a heavy man, up a steap 
kill, through mud, and over the roughest racks and stonea, was 
simply marvellous. I noticed that they were moatly very young and 
vigorous looking, and found that only such coolies are willing to 
'undertake by tba journey' {pau In) instead of 'by the day' 
(^MM Ntny, I should strongly recommend the former system to 
travellars who like pushing on, for it is tbin tba interest of tba 



iSS4 Up the Tan^'tse. 

bearers to shorten the time of the journey as much as possible ; 
whereas, if they are hired by the day, the less they travel the 
better they like it, and the more apt they are to complain of over- 
work, bad accommodation, &c. 

The morning's climb was exceedingly severe, and in many 
places the pathway was hardly distinguishable. At one spot we 
had to clamber up a sort of spiral staircase, difficult even for a 
pedestrian with hands free and supported by a stick ; imagine, 
therefore, the painful efforts of the patient bearers, shod like 
horses with iron clamps tied under their straw shoes, and slipping 
amongst the wet rocks, with over a hundred-weight of baggage on 
their shoulders ! The highest point was 783 metres above the 
Ta-tu River, nnd here the party separated, the civil mandarin, 
who ruthlessly kept his chair, taking a circuitous but easier route, 
which rejoined ours a few miles further on. This man belonged to 
the ancient family of Tseng, and traced his descent through (I 
think he said) seventy lineal ancestors to his shih-tsu, * Tseng-tsz,' 
founder of the family and pupil of Confucius. The cradle of his 
race is Shan Tung ; but the family centre of gravity is now Hu 
Nan, where a number of huge genealogical volumes are kept to 
which any Tseng in the empire can refer when necessary, and in 
which their names are all carefully entered. According to him, no 
Tseng, however mean or poor, and no matter where born, fails 
sooner or later to notify, through family branches, the head stock of 
his existence and name. Every Tseng belongs to ap^ai\ or * family 
degree,' and no matter whether the ji^ai character forms part of his 
actual name or not, his theoretical name contains that character. 
Three families only have their jyUii fixed by the Emperor, the 
families of K'ung, (Confucius) ; Meng, (Mencius) ; and Tseng, 
(? Cincius). Petition is periodically made for ten characters at a 
time, and when ten generations have been exhausted, second ap- 
plication is made. For instance, the late Grand Secretary Tseng 
Kwo-fan iiu<\ his brother Kwo-ch'iian,* belong to the ch^ iian-tsz' 
p'tti l^S-3r JJ*^! 'y ^^^ ^^® present envoy to England to the 
chi isz j)*(ii [iP^ \ The first-named did not choose to employ the 

* Sinco mailo Viceroy at Naukin;:]:. 

+ Iwo brothers or cousins of this p'ai hold olHco in YUn Nan and 
Kwang Tung. 



77*^ nVds of nu'pch. 285 

* degree name,' but the second uses it as second half of his ofHcial 
deHi^nation. fie mi^^ht equally well have been named Ch^Uan 
al'Kie, or even Ch^Um kico. The tliird uses the degree name, — 
Chi-tsc ; but, difF.rin>5 from his uncle, as the first part of bis official 
deHi|(nntion. I see no reas»»n to d<iaht that every Tjn'jng * knows his 
place,' for I suhsrqucntly witnessed several instances ^nrout^ where 
persons in the II u Pch Province cimpared family notes with my 
mandarin. At Kten-shih dintrict, for instance, an old druggist 
came to the inn to interview the foreigner. The civilian was 
having his hair dressed in the yard, and enquired the old gen- 
tleman's surname. * Tbcng' he said. * Oh ! then, we are of the 
same family. What is yonr p*aif I am Chi.* *I am Chilian In 
;*Vii,* at once replied the druj^gist,— the identical degrees of the 
statesmen above-named. There are not many Tfongs domiciled 
in Yiin Nan, Kwei Chow, or Kan Suh, but Kiang 8i, IIu Kwang, 
and Shan Tung are full of them : there are several hundred thousand 
in the whole Empire. 

After surmounting the spiral staircase, we rested a while at t 
miserable hove) the owners of which appeared too stupid and bereft 
of interest in the world even to speak. They regarded us with a 
fixed and gloomy cow-like gaze, as though we were beings from 
another world. They offered no resistance when our coolies begaa 
to pluck the pumelos from the trees, and had even intelligence 
enough to say that the price was four cash apiece when I insisted 
on payment. lI6-t*ao Shu is 45 li from Ta-tu k*ou, and, after 
descending for an hour or two, we reached this village in the after- 
noon, and found a very tolerable inn. Owing to the incessant 
rains of the past three weeks the country around us was under 
water, and we had to skirt round instead of crossing a small vallej 
to Miao-t»z Ts'ao. Miao-tsz Ts'ao, or Temple Basin, appears to 
be a name derived from the trough-like appearance of this tiny 
valley in the mountains. The town of Miao-t«>z Ts'ao, where we 
found a very good inn for such a region, is 570 metres above the 
Ta-tu Uiver. The productions of the country around are drugs, 
especially Aou /7*o, or hou pu^ and tmig thin : also tea, which ia 
beginning to travel hence to Uankow for export abroad. Little or 
no opium is grown in the Districts of Fung-chieh and Wu-shan. 
The crops we bad noticed oo our way hither were millet, potatoety 



-»^^ 



»?wr ' 



-aiiui. 



■- - 



.». .- '^i. 



rs r "=»" -ear?- 









'* 



. .-^ y • 






live Wilds of Uu-pch. t87 

feet of her anwashed, uooombed, and ragged little girl. All 
the foot but the great toe was bent roood under the sole, and 
a few leaves of a tree called the Is^i Ian were inserted to dra«r 
out the inflammation, or, as the old woman pnt it, * to wither 
the superfluous flesh instead of allowing it to rot.' The poor 
little girl would suffer pain for four or flye years. Fashion 
in a pig-stj ; torture and res|)ectability ; beauty and stumps I 
It is remarkable that male Chinese are so well shapen and 
▼igorous as they are, oonsidering the unwholesome deformity of 
the mothers who bring them forth. From this squalid ion we 
mounted upwards sod upwards, still amongst the clouds, along a 
Tery tolerable stone road. We met numbers of lean hungry- 
looking mules * coming back empty ' after conveying salt to Shih- 
nan Fu in Hu Feb Province, or carrying back loads of hemp to the 
place whence they had come, namely Tai-ch*i in the K*wei-chou 
Gorge. The talt is brought all the way down from >yn-t'ung 
Chuao. The clouds cleared off a little at Yu-chia Ping, (2uO 
metres above the Christian hovel), a oonsiderable village station 
with plenty of accommodation for beast, i.e. mules, but none for 
man ; though, as a matter of fact, the absenoe of f nrnitoro made 
the mules* stalls much more inviting to my taste than the interior 
of a traveller's apartment in an inn. As there are no asses in this 
^art of the world, it is difBcuU to aoooant for the presence of so 
many mules, but they are stated to oome from Shih*nan. The 
Chinese about here said that there was no tach an animal known 
as a jeannette, i.f. from a horse-father and a j aokass- mother : they 
also denied all knowledge of an animal known to Chinese Zoology 
as a r^, which is stated to bj a mixture of a donkey and a cow, or 
a bull and a female ass. As the colloquisl meaning of this cha- 
racter is ' special,' perhaps the primitive Chinese mind, in endea- 
vouring to figure out the idea ' special,' thought that the speciallest 
beast of all would be this combination. The winds are very violent 
about here, and we found it diflicult work plunging through mud 
and struggling against wind at such an altitude. After making 
36 li in all from Miao-tss Ts'ao, we took our midday meal at a 
mountain station kept by a remarkably daan, tiny-footed, in- 
telligent, abrewd, and humorous old lady who looked the very pink 
of neatness and respeotabiiity, and ruled the roaat, (1.0., boiled the 



288 Up the Yang-ise. 

rice), with all the amhoritj of a roan. She had a fiae cat, a fine 
female Bervant, and a fine dog ; and neither she, her dog, nor her 
cat ever ate anything bat potatoes: no meat, no rice, no vegetables, 
no tea : potatoes and water for woman and beast all the year roand. 
8he had a store of rice in the hoase, and we ate it, thus probably 
contiibuting to form an epoch in her life. Her total earnings were 
about five thousand cash (barely a pound sterling] a year, and once 
or twice a year she and her servant tramped to wine parties in the 
vicinity. The other items of local history to her mind were the 
occasional slaughter of a pig, and possibly the death of a plaguey 
one. Here was Chinese virtue and respectability seen at its best. 
So decent did the old party look, that one of our coolies asked her 
whence she got her chair for paying visits of ceremony. She ex- 
plained that she kept a weather eye on the sun, and, when sare of 
a fine day, tramped there and back and imbibed wine all during 
one morning and evening. Like all her kind she had a keen eye 
fur cash, and would have shewn us that she had a temper too, had 
1 not summarily ended the dispute which she was raising by 
demanding to know, and then at once paying the difference. This 
act impressed the old lady very much. Her house was 1513 metres 
above K*wei-chou, or nearly 5000 feet above the level of the aea. 
Our highest point was at Han-ts'ao a little further on, almost at 
tlif Itoundary line between the Sz Ch'wan and 11 u Peh Provinces, 
btvtnty-two nittres liiglier than the potato family's residence. A 
grtiit deal ot vegetable tallow, resembling huge blocks of wax or 
marble, was being brought on man back from Shih-nan Fu to 
K'wei-chou Fu. The tallow is here called viu-yn or * wood oil,' 
unci is extracted iroin a tree locallv called mu-tsz s/fu or * wood- 
berry tree.' This is simply the uu-chin or Excaecaria sehiferay 
which is known in ISz Ch'wan as chuan-tsz shu. The tallow 
industry, strange to say, is almost unknown in Sz Ch*wan, where 
tho berries are little utilised. I was much puzzled bj' this name 
during my travels in Sz Ch'wan, where the chiian'tsz is one of the 
' I commonest trees ; but, as 1 sent a specimen to Dr. Hance, there can 

bu no mistake ; so here at least is one question cleared up. The 
price here quoted was CO cash tho ICO catties, but whether at 
Shih-nan or K*wei-chou I forget. The rest of the day's journey to 
Shili-ttoZ l*'ing was a miserable plod through rain, mud, stones, and 



I ■ 

', I 



The Wilds of Hu-peh. 989 

clouds. Probably the soenerj would htye been magnificent, for at 
one plaoe the path ran along a narrow ridge which leemed to oon- 
neot two bottomleea precipices : during the last mile or two we 
appeared to be walking over coal. The den in which we were 
quartered at 8hih-tsz P'ing was about the lowest descent in the 
way of housing that I ever underwent. Imagine an apartment, 
walls airy, built of reeds and mud, possessing the single Tirtue of 
being well thatched : at one end a huge bed, warranted to accom- 
modate 20 persons besides Termin, and covered with straw mat- 
tresses. The floor that of nature, and on it at three different 
places were kindled three log fires, round which huddled the cooliea 
and the male portion of the household. No outlet at all for tb6 
smoke, which filled every nook and crcTice of the apartment except 
the comer set apart for me. This was about eight feet by six, and 
boarded off from the rest : as the boards did not reach to the roof, 
I do not understand why the smoke did not suffocate me ; but I 
Buppoee it followed out its own laws and could not descend. In 
this stall was a bucket filled with matter ultimately destined for 
the fields, and this bucket I speedily removed to the central hall, 
but, wishing to be sure that it was what I thought it was befor* 
ordering it out altogether into the open, I asked the landlord, who 
kindly said I might keep it in my own room if I liked, all to 
myself. The furniture of the outer portion was a huge jumble of 
rakes, baskets, utensils, caldrons, stores of maixe, cobwebs, poles, 
and dirt The meanest Chinese house has its ' withdrawing room,' 
or harem, even if this consists of nothing more than a plank barring 
the way to a sack-like mosquito curtain covering another plank. 
Noticing a lockup box or chamber something like my own at ona 
end of the hall, I nngallantly enquired of the landlord whether, 
for the consideration of two hundred cash, (eight pence), the ladies 
could not all turn out in the wet and spend the night with a neigh- 
bour: this was because the civil and military mandarins were 
rather unhappy at the thought of having to be * enred ' by smoke, 
twenty in a bed, and seemed likely to accept my offer, unwisely 
made out of poUtenees, to abandon my floor to them. The land* 
lord, however, said this was impoaaible, as the * young ladiea' 
occupied the ' inner chamber.' I believe for another extra hundred 
cash the Udiee woold have gladly removed from their bin to the 



£90 Up the Tang-ise. 

pigsty if they eoald haye done it without being Been ; hot here tte 
•ivil mandarin interposed, and said that rather than infringe th# 
rites he would form one of twenty on the general bed. As ther* 
were no chairs or tables, he went to bed at onee without his dinner, 
and the last thing I heard him say was that he had lived over 30 
years and had never sunk so low as this before. On the whole I 
was pretty snug at this place, which was 156 metres lower than 
our highest point during the day. I think the total diatanoe for 
the day was 60 /i. 

It rained heavily all night, and the miserable bearers, who had 
already had three weary days of wet and plodding, were in despair. 
However, sojourn at such a place was out of the question, and so 
off again we started next day in the pelting rain to Sbdo-lan P'ing» 
194 metres lower down, and distant twelve It. Sometimes the 
bearers had to plunge through a foot of mud, sometimes pick their 
way through stones as scattered as those in the celebrated Nan-k'on 
Pass near Peking. A Chinese road is often only so in a special 
and peculiar sense, as, for instance, a chain of dangerous rocks 
would be a road across the ocean. They serve to indicate a general 
direction, and the skilful navigator keeps them in his mind's eye, 
and tacks in various directions to avoid them, occasionally even 
crossing them or running over or through them but seldom along them. 
Eight li farther on is a mule-hotel-village called Sha-mu liang, 
250 metres lower again : and here the weather cleared up a little, 
and gave us some idea of the country through which we had 
passed. A most magnificent view opened out to the South, and a 
very remarkable serrated range of hills ran East and West as we 
advanced south-east towards our first District City in Hu Peh 
Province, Eien-shih Jlicn, Here we saw paddy fields again as we 
descended, and passed through a great deal of very red sandstone 
when we reached the valley. We crossed a river or branches of 
a river by wooden bridges several times, before finally crossing a 
considerable stone bridge just outside the city. Kien-shih is a 
tiny place with nothing to mark its civic rank but a mud wall, 
just like that of the little towns on the Ewei Chou frontier : there 
is absolutely nothing of interest in the place from any point of 
view whatever. I doubt whether any foreigner has ever been 
there before, in European clothes at any rate ; and, although th» 



The Willis of Hwpeh. 291 

two mtodarioB were detailed off to keep awty the earions, 1 wai 
made unoomfortable by ill-maooered people poking holea in th« 
windows and peeping at me. Some yaniiih ia prodneed in tb6 
neigbboarhoody and porters were receiving 12 cash the catty to 
oonTey it to K'wei-ohoa, where the price was stated to be over 300 
cash the catty. It was donbtfal whether this day's joamey, which 
was oyer at 2 p.m., was 50 or 60 li. Nothing was to be bought at 
thu city, t.tf.y nothing which any Tillage in a richer part of the 
country would not afford. The mandarins were able howcTcr to 
buy some pork, and the nayal man told me that he was only in the 
habit of eating meat seyeral times a month. I forgot to note the 
height of Kien-shih City, but it must haye been about 1100 metrea 
below Shih-tsz P'iog, and about 300 metres above the Tang-tsz at 
we left it opposite K*wei Ewan. Leaving the city next morning, 
for the first time without rain, we once more mounted to a height 
of 480 metres above K*wei-chou, and then descended to a river 
called Ma-sbui Ho, which I take to be either the same river that 
we crossed at Kien-shih, or a tributary of it, and by the level of 
which I estimate the elevation of the city. The prospect of delays 
at the ferries of all these swollen rivers tended to mar any scrape 
of enjoyment that might otherwise have been picked up on a rough 
mountain journey. The Ma-shui Ho was crossed by a free ferry 
much in the style of that at Ta-tu K'ou ; but the river was not 
nearly so dangerously swollen. About half a mile below the ferry 
a bridge was being constructed, but did not appear to be in a yerj 
advanced state. Liang-fdng Ya, 340 metres above the bed of the 
Ma-shui River, was the highest point attained during our fifth 
day's journey. Thence we descended, through very beantilol 
mountain scenery, 240 metres to Ho-shui P'ing, a market town 
taking its name from the long fiat valley and the river which 
winds through it from east to west, and which appears to be the 
same as the Ma-shui River. Properly we should have forded the 
•tream at Ho-shui P*ing ; but, as it was too deep and rapid to be 
pleasant crossing for bearers with loads, we followed its right bank 
up to 8an-li Pa, a considerable market town 16 U further easts 
where we crossed a ford with no more damage than a little 
wetting, though the bearers had much difficulty in keeping their 
ieet. By taking a round by the upper end of the town, not more 



tot Up the ToMi-Ue. 

■igkft kcve CMicd Vj a pink Wis« ; Wl CUu- 



tk« loBg rvB, kas alvmjs gfcalcr rfciii iv tkoi tkaa 
•dctj. 8u-K Pm is ■■dcr Ikt Diiirict c< Kka-akik, tes wluek 
it it disUai CO fi. TWitt [■■■■■iil im this aagfcWfhBod i»a 
Uaekisli povdoy kiad bum iht Tfta-jmag DiilrieL TIm T9b- 
jiag wdk ftre itelcd to be 130 H inm ToB-jmag JSRn, aad ar« 
altogtihcr diflmat in appMnaee fr«« Ikt 4Mf» nuivw vails of 
Fo-shna sad Sh^baa^y slicadj dsewheta described. Tbsj ara 
Isjgs eaoiigb for bsli a dosca SMa to sUad roaad ia ordsr to ksal 
«p the briao. Tbej sra said to bsTs bssa wstksd over 2,000 
jesrs. Tbe sslt wss seUiag at Liaa^-flaf Ta at 56 easb tbs eattj, 
but erery few miles of carriage of eonrae affBCta tbe priee. 

Ffom Sao-li Pa we aioaated ^3 OMtrea, tbioa^ firs aad 
pines, a distaoee of 10 /» to flaa-kob Ta, wbere we pat up at a 
aumntain bloek-booae kept by a faauly aaa^d Cbaag. Tbe bead 
of tbe family was a Teaerable old fellow of 80 yean of age, wbo 
occupied witb bis wife, wbo was atill lifing, a sedaded aparimeat 
in tbe barem portion of the building, separated, as is often tbe 
case, from the main part by tbe kitchen or oooking range. A 
number of healthy well-grown youths, in whom it wss easy to re- 
oognize a family likeness, came crowding round, and these turned 
out to be the old man's grandsoDs. They called themselyes 
' brothers,' and were somewhat surprised when I divided them off 
into groups, and allotted to them several mothers. It appears, 
however, that eaoh group was one of cousins; but, notwithstanding 
this, a family likeness was apparent. The father of one group was 
the business man or landlord of the place, a fine, hairy, indepen- 
dent looking man of 50 or more ; and his wife did the honours of 
the rice cauldron. Some of the youths were married and had sonsi 
so that there were four generations on the spot. It was interest-^ 
ing to see the *lean and slippered pantaloon,' the son 'bearded like 
a pard/ and the sympathetic faces of the youngsters grouping with 
eany rcHpcct round the old man, as he dandled a < muling and 
puliing' infant. The house was solidly built of adobe, and well 
provided with doors, shutters, and other wood-work : though really 
little hotter than a rustic barn in England, it had, compared with 
the slimy, riukotty, and filthy inns of Sz Ch'uan, quite an anoienty 



Tlie WiUls of Hu'peh. 299 

river, (and many of which were already being oat in preparation 
for a new bridge whioh it was proposed to oonstruct), rolled into 
the river by half a dozen men would have saved hundreds of oooliet 
daily from dangers of the ford. Our naval mandarin, with a zeal 
for philanthropy (t$o hao thih) which is as rare as it is highly 
appreciated amongst the Chinese, set himself to kick or push aside 
the brick-bats and stones which here and there tended to embarrasa 
pedestrians. Altogether, this man shewed a kindliness of dia- 
position and a disinterestedness quite exceptional amongst his 
countrymen, and especially amongst those of 8z Ch'uan. I think 
it due therefore both to him and his countrymen to chronicle im- 
partially a circumstance in his and their favour. When all is said 
and done, and however unpleasant it may be to dwell in Chinett 
fashion amongst the Chineae, as men they are probably neither 
better nor worse than ourselves ; and in spite of dirt, small feet, 
shiftlessness, and greed for petty gains, are justly entitled to claim 
credit for a system which produces industry and content, though 
the latter be only of a low order. If communications were im- 
proved, the security of property guaranteed, and justice adminis- 
tered impartially between man and man, they have in them the 
makiniji of a nation second to none. I must add, however, that 
the people about Cha-k*oa 8hih appeared to be stupidly and 
brutally ignorant : and it was not specially they who led me to 
indulge in these favourable reflections. From this place we made 
thirty more /», 75 in all for the day, to 8ha-p'ing, — a very good 
day, the beat travelling we had done. 8ha-p*ing is 216 metres 
above the ford where we witnessed the accident, but is still in tha 
long valley down which runs the mountain stream in question. 

I urged the eeoort and the chairmen to endeavour to acoomplish 
the rest of the journey in two days. We had still 180 ii to go ; — 
only 60 miles ; and yet snch was the eflTect of conflnement, soch 
the weaving influence of delay and discomfort that an extra day 
appeared a little age. Next day we continued to orawl, 
now more steeply, past Lu-tsz P*ing, up the long valley 
already described, 25 &' to P*u-tss Ling, 482 metres abovt 
Sha P*ing : then we deaeended 400 metres, and 25 Is to Ho-ehin 
P*ing, where the people were only just (middle of October) reaping 
the riee and thraahing out their betan In Si Ch'oani (and U 



500 Up the Fang'tse. 

course all the more io thoae mouctainouB diBtricU on the Sz Ch*itan 
and Hu Peh frontier), there is no such a thing as a douhle crop of 
rice in one year : yet it is said that at a place called W4n-t<ang, in 
£*ai Hien in Eastern 8z Ch'oan, there is occasionally a double 
crop : perhaps the climate is there locally a£fected by hot springs 
which possibly give the name to the locality. The cIyU mandarin 
told me, if I remember rightly, that, although there were both 
summer and autumn crops of rice in his proyince, (Hu Nan), yet 
they were never grown during the same year on the same land. 
Near Canton, too, I remember the agriculturalists used to say that 
a diflferent kind of seed was required for the spring and autumn 
crops, and that the spring rice would not grow in autumn, nor the 
autumn rice in spring : these facts appear to open problems in 
agriculture worthy of attention. 

We now mounted 235 metres to Ch'in-ning E'ou, 10 Uj and 
then went down 60 metre to Ch'ing-kang P6, 10 li more : next we 
descended 75 metres through the lovely gorge of Lo-sz Ean ; then 
up again ; then down once more 180 metres below the gorge to 
T'ao-tsz Ya, having done a hard day's work of 80 U, with 100 U 
more before us to I-oh'ang. I now found that the species of oak 
universally known in Sz Ch'uan as ch^ing kang^ is here also called 
hwa li, and the acorns of the same tree, which we picked up on 
the road, were called »iang isz, a name applied to the oaks near 
Peking. I sent an incomplete specimen of the ch^ing hang to Dr. 
Hanoe, who says it is probably the Qxurcus mongolica, Pall. ; but 
possibly Q. aliena, BL, or the Q. Fabri, Hanoe. A combination of 
nu Peh and Sz Ch'uan coolies enable me to say positively that 
the oak known as the fu li, or perhaps hu li, is not the same. I 
secured acorns from both, but I am sorry to say I now forget which 
is which. 

I need hardly say that we rose at a very early hour the next 
morning, but it was dilEoult to get the bearers to advance at more 
than their ordinary speed. Ten li brought us to Tien-sin P*o, after 
which we descended to T'ai-shih Ch^ao, our lowest point since 
leaving the Yang-tsz at K'wei-chou, being only 70 metres, or about 
230 feet, above the level of the Great River at the time we crossed 
it, and this without taking into consideration any possible baro- 
metrical changes. We followed for some distance the bank of a 



Sz CJiuan Plants, 301 

beautiful stream winding through a quiet and peaceful Talley, full 
of villages, and having a most tranquil and civilized look after the 
wild and barren mountains up and down which we had been 
ceaselessly clambering during nine days. I had hardly patience to 
remain in my chair at all, though I was hardly yet in a condition 
to do much walking. Another 10 U brought us to Siao-hwang 
Ling, and we left the valley after passing Eau-chia Ten, mounting 
for the last time a few hundred feet to Shih-t*ou Ya, a ridge which 
forms the boundary between the district of Ch'ang-yang and the 
district of I-ch'ang. There for the first time we obtained an 
extensive view of the Hu Feb plain and a glimpse of the Great 
River, still 20 miles (60 li) distant below I-ch*ang. The mountains 
forming the right bank of the I-ch'ang gorge seemed mere hillocks 
compared with those we had recently traversed. It seemed 
doubtful even then whether we should be able ta reach I-ch*ang 
that day, for the bearers were utterly worn out, and limped along 
in a painful way which even the prospect of extra pay could not 
alleviate. Ten U brought us to Tao-chia Lin, now only 40 metres 
above the E'wei-chou level, and the rest of the Journey was simply 
a struggle onwards, hired men relieving the bearers wherever they 
could be induced to close a bargain without wasting time in talk. 
At this point I could think of nothing else but seeing white faces 
again, and I allowed levels, hills, rivers ftc., to take care of them- 
selves. Luckily I was just in time to catch the last downward 
steamer for the year. 



SZ CH'UAN PLANTS. 

The plants enumerated in List No. 1 represent those, out of a 
total of about 300, collected by me in Sz Ch'uan, which my patient 
and obliging friend Dr. Hance has been kind enough to identify. 
This ineomplete work has been performed under great difficulties. 
As regards myself, I can scarcely pretend to an acquaintance with 
even the elements of botanical knowledge ; and I had to collect at 
random, unprovided with apparatus for preserving the specimens^ 
whilst travelling comfortlessly from place to place. To have 
stopped to make more deliberate collections in the neighboarhood 



302 Up the Yang-tse. 

o! the towDS would have beea to attract crowds of suspiciouft 
natiyes ; whilst to have stopped ia the coantry would have beeo to 
uDdulj contract the ever empty stomachs of my hard-working 
bearers : other obstructions, too numerous for description, may be 
imagined by anyone who has travelled ia the interior of China, and 
the more vividly by anyone who has travelled in a poor and 
mountainous part of the country, (amongst natives more suspicious 
and ignorant than the average); and alone. As regards Dr. 
Hance, he has naturally been hampered in his good-natured efforts 
by the incompleteness of my specimens, which in spite of salutary 
warnings, were, I understand, provokingly unprofessional, not to say 
downright discreditable. Thus, barely a quarter of my whole 
collection has bedn found susceptible of complete identification, 
whilst not more than a quarter of that quarter (those names which 
are underlined or italicised) can be fitted with Chinese written 
names at all coherent or certain. Of this happy few, again, not 
more than one half can be conscientiously pronounced correct as to 
more than sound. 

The plants enumerated in List No. 2 speak for themselves. 
They illustrate alike the incompetence of the collector and tho 
desperate efforts of the charitable botanist. 

It might well be asked : why offer such an unsatisfying meal 
at all ? The answer is that many distinguished enquirers have 
found it not beneath them to adduce in support of their theories 
an occasional lucid fact picked out from the chaos of unpractised 
travellers' experiences in lands too remote to fall within the direct 
range of the scientific eye : so, those who are making praiseworthy 
efforts to establish a living nomenclature for Chinese plants may 
perchance from this haggis-like purveyance succeed in extracting 
one or two mouthluls of solid meat in support of doubtful facts, for 
the satisfactory solution of which their stomachs are a-hungering. 

The great botanical questions of which Sz Cb'uan is the 
theatre are, I am told, these : What is the varnish tree ? What 
are the wax trees? What the different sorts of oaks and 
mulberries ? I am afraid I have done very little to aid in 
elucidating these matters ; though no one perhaps has seen, or 
might have seen, more oaks, varnish trees, and mulberries in 
Sg Ch^uan than myself. The difficulties are, firstly, to find 



Sz Ch'uan Plants. 303 

anybody who knows anythiDg for certain ; secondly, to get him to 
state truly what he thinks he knows ; thirdly, to get two or more 
to agree, independently, to one statement ; fourthly, to reconcile 
such agreement with statements to the contrary effect at another 
place; and fifthly, to make sure that two plants or trees at 
different places are, in fact, the same. Sometimes I succeeeded in 
getting the flower, but no fruit ; at others the leaf, but no flower ; 
and when I had got them, I often found it hard to keep them in a 
whole condition. From the platform of considerable ignorance, 
however, I may be permitted to hacard a few crude observations. 

The vegetable tallow tree, cAiri, is popularly unknown in East 
Sz Ch'uan by any other name than of chtian'Uz shu. No ono 
knows the character, but I venture to suggest the one given in the 
list (No. 24) for reasons which belong to the department of philology 
rather than that of botany. 

The celebrated wood-oil tree, Vunq-Uz, stands quite apart in 
its nature from all other trees of whoae names the character Vuni/ 
forms a part, e.ff. the Slerculia, 

The sound ^p*<iOf which Dr. Bretsobneider, citing excellent 

ancient authority, informs me should be written ^^, seems to be 
the generic word for * berry,' and all the strawberries, (if there bu 
any), raspberries, blackberriee, &c., bear this name. The plant 
which Captain Gill thought was a wild strawberry is the ihi p*ao or 
Fragaria indica^ Andr. The word Rxdni9 might be considered 
almoat interchangeable with the word ^|>*ao. 

The character ^^ appears to stand invariably for the genus 
Polygonum^ and this assumption ia strongly supported by both my 
Canton and my Sz Cb*uan experiences. 

The commonest large tree in East Sz Ch'uan is the hxoang 

koh^ thu . The ordinary Chinese literatea do not know the 
characters. Foreigners have held it to be some sort of a fig or 
banyan. It is an evergreen. 

Oaka are seldom allowed to grow : they are rarely more than 
shrubs, soon to be cut for firewood. The commonest Chinese 
name ia ^ch^itig Juiny^ and no regular characters are popularly known. 
The additiona * waiter/ 'dry,' * maoy-Icaf,' &c., &o., are ofUo 
placed before thu generic wurd, and oaks often ' run into * mulbcr- 
riea. The book word tiany^ appears to be unknown in East 8z 
Ch'uan. 



S04 ^P the Tai^-tte. 

Tben are baiij Tarietic^ pcrbapa ipeeica, of the tobacco tnd 
■iilbeTt7 ^aata, vhtU tk nx tzcM mad iuwt ticei an, to far, 
boptlcMlj iBTi^Tad. 

USTXO. 1. 

1. Abdia •enata, S. and Z. S :^ fi|. 

t. AhmOaa Ancmme, Gmaia. ig B. 

3. J/rwribv Knieia, Hank. Ig Ap. 

4. Amn^.^ mtandifaB,, Roxb. ^Jc ^ ^- 
G. Aivtiiiin main*, iicbk. &, iA (proa. 'p'ug). 

6. Bf^tooii iDdio, B^ ^ ^ SI ^- 

7. Br(nnuljipolucii«,T1iiIBb. j^ifi^. 

9. C«pUta«dw ■a»cfawfg, DC. ^^^ "flB''*°°''''*'lft ^- 

10. Cfaynmtowaw AtztwyJUi, DC. jB tt- 

11. Cnku* MgetDm, Btb. and Hook. f. j|^ Jg j^ 

12. CoDuneljDi coramniii*, Lbo. 4^ 4£ ^S. 

13. CodtoItoIo* ■aetiNifolitii, rnrez. ^ j^ ^^ J^ or C. leinam, 

14. Canvolvoliu (Cn1;*tcgia] acotorifotiiu, Torei. ^j^ ^ ^ ^. 

15. Co..olTutu. «pinn., Liua. P ^g ^ <" g| ^ ^■ 
IC. C«n... p„.dn..., lUnce ^ ® ^ " ® ^ S- 

17. Crcpi, japomcn, B..tl,. ^ ^^ ^ (or ^) (or ^) (or ■^) 

IH. Daueui earota, Linu. I |l EfE 'j^. 

I'J. I>iolirOcopli:ilB lutifolia. DC. jXj |||^ 'fe- 

20. Eclipta niba, Linn. ^ g ;^. 

21. ftwnjBUJ umbeliata, Tli!.];, dL -ftjlj ■^. 

23. Eintlin >oncbinorn, DC. ^ ^ (or ^) ^. 

23, EoltynntLul qulnqacllorua, Lour. ^R SSt JL. 

2i. fHMcaria ,c*i/crfl, Mill). Arg. ^ ^. 

?n. Fmsariu Mica, An.ir. jj^ ^g (|.ro.i. ^p'no). 

2fi. Cilimr. ucn.m, l.i„n. j^ ^ (pror. di'W) ^. 



St CJituin Plants. SOS 



27. GstaenU florida, Lion. ^ -]r ^ <]^>- 

28. GenUana Bjuarrota, LIun. M ^ ]^ or ^ ^ J|^ "J*. 

29. Gjrmnothrix bordeifonui*, Bennv. ^ffy JS ^T- 
80. Hemerocamt fulta, Linn. ( J^ ) ^ ^ (|^)- 

51. HemittepU Ijrnta, Baoge |^ tf ^J!]^* 

82. Hibiteui tyriaau, Lbn. ^1^ itt ^J[k* 

83. HoMttuynia cordola, Thbg. ^ ^ ;|^. 

84. Hovmia dnleis, Tbbg. ;^ ^. 

85. ^ypeHeumAion^n.L.^lgf^^ig^oTflJt^il^. 

36. Hjp«ricum atteanntam, Choity, j^ |Jj 10. 

37. Hypencum japonicntn. Linn. MiS ^ ^• 

88. HTpericnm uralnm, Ham. Jg (or |^) Jl tf <>' ^ ^ !^- 

89. Joiftiaea repent, Linn. 9j^ f^ /fT . 

40. Lepidlom niderale, Linn. )H{ ^g 9^. 

41. Ligoitrom Incidnm, Ait. aK SuSB* 

42. LimoDU ? tricbocarpa, Uance, ^ (§^ ^ ^ ]^ '''' M ^ j^^' 

43. Lippia nodiflora, Bicb. ^')Xl^ 

44. Lotna comiculatnt, Linn. ^A |^ ^K ^Q* 

45. Lycinm Cbinenae, Mill. ^ Jjg^ ^. 

46. Lytimacbia [? Alfredi], Uance, ^ ^ ^. 

47. Ljraimacbia Cbrittinae, Hance (or Japonica, Tbbg.) ^ JJ% ^ 

48. Lysimacbia detbroidet, Dnby ^ff '\j J^ ^»* 

49. MaXoha barbctut, MilU. Arg. (wild medlar) 1^ |^ IQ. 

50. Marlea begonifoliii. Roxb. A fi| HI ^' A /R ^ ft* 
61. Maim ragosus, Loqr. igft JUI ^ ^^ SK ^ ^* 

52. Melastoma candidom, Don, |A p|f r^ . 

53. Melica icabroaa, Trio. J^'^^^Wt ^ ^* 

54. Melilotua macrorbtza, Pen bF 25 or M[ 4|£. 

55. MilletUa Mricosema, Ilance, q| ]^ I^. 
6C. Muaaaenda pobetcent, Ait jpL bHT ^|. 
57, JVico^MNa Ia^ociim, Lino. aBj or XA* 



30G Up the Taiig-tse. 

SB, OphiopogonjuponicKM, Ker, ^ft 1^ Q|^ or -|^ ^ :i^. 

69. Ophi«pos,m gracilU, Kw, -£ ^ =^ or M| 1^ ||^ |^. 

60. Or^soRum mfsaro, Liun, (Miiij.irnni) j^ ip^. 

61. Ozalii en-nimliKa, LioR. ^ j^ ^. 

62. PRed«ria tomeatoaa, Bl. ^ ^ ^ 

63. PiJiunifl Anbletia, B. bdJ S- ^ ^ "g. 

64. Phjiolsoo aomo«., Ro.b. >1 ^J ^. 
6B. Polyg«la juponicH, Hoult. j^ J^. 

66. Fofygoaitm eriopoHlaHum, Hanoe, ^S ^ "S. 

67. P(rt.™<Hfa diicoiw-, Bango. ,^ ^ jl^ ^ "' ^ ^ ^. 

68. Pr«nd(a ru^ari., Linu. g ;li :^- 

69. FtariKarya gtenaptero, Caa. DC. J|| ^. 

70. Querciu (mongolicA, Pall.; or alieoB, Bl.; or Fabri, Haace) ^ ttfc. 

71. Quujiintii inijica, L. UR ^* '^'. 

72. iZanuncoJu chiMtuU, Bge. 1g| ^ i^. 

78. i^Sa»» ^i^. Lin.. ^ "^ ^ "' i«|li& ^- 

7(, iUM temi-alala, Mun. ^ j^^. 

7G. Boia microphgUa, Boxb. ^ ^ or 'M SU. 

76. AuiM Parteri, HsDce M Bg. 

77. «Hiw triphyttut, Thnnb. ^ ^ gg or || Qg. 

78. SaUm plcboia, B. Br. ^ ^ K. 

79. Sedam Alfred!, Hanoe, ,^ ^ ^. 

BO. Sedum drjmarioidBi, HancB, [5\ ^ ^ 

81. Senecio OldliBmiaDiu, Muziin. ffi^ a^ ;t|k or Ji^ <Sf . 

82. SoUnum iilErnm, L, ^ ^. 

63. SUcbjs modica, Hance ^ -£■ ^. 

84. Stcrculia plaUnifoliB, Lmn. ig ^ Si. 

85. rerienn o^tna/u, Lbu. ^ ^^ |jg|. 

86. riiunium aHiRi/oUum, Don, ^ ^ ^. 

87. Vicia mnllicauliE, Ledeb. ^ ^ S^ <" ^ Sj^ H- 

88. rir«E ne^niJa, Linn. ^ ^j. 

89. WaLlonbergia agreatii, A. DC. ^ 1^ ^ or ^ ]^ ^. 

90. Zitj/phiu tmlgaTu, Linn. ^ A^, 



Sz Ch uan PlarUs. 
Lin HO. 8. 
1. Allium lljtJ( a 

*■»"-'•• *«■■ 
S. BnMcs ^ ^ :^. 

7. C»on«:.. j(g ^ JJ. 
e. Clewaendron ^ iffc ^J". 

10. C.,,d.li,glj^]|[. 

11. C.pr™..^rg(j(5)y, 

11. Fnm... a jjl g^. 

15. Geratiiam ^ ^ ]^ 

16. Gnaplialium j|| ^ ^. 

17. li,p«.™ It} « ^. 

18. Mlgor„g(gj^. 

7S. rhuwlu 1^ g. 
!6. Pluwolu IS ^ W. 

77. Pl.,ll..tam|.yg. 

78. Piuu;^. 

79. Polnmn 19 30 i>t 9 ^ ^ (« ^). 

81. Suunculoi ftft ^ ^t- 



308 Up the Tang-tse. 

3:1. Rosa ^ ^ ^. 

34. Rumex J: :^ ^ or ^ [^ (^ or) ^. 

35. Scirpu. Ill fl (? ig|) ^ :^- 

36. Sedum /J^ ^ ^ ffl. 

37. Senecio (? SeDecillis) QQ J^ "1^. 
88. SolanaxD ^fi ^|. 

39. Temstroemiacea JS. 

40. 'Thalictnim :|^ ^ -^ or ^ 1^ ^. 

41. Thalictmm |i| f( 0|* 

42. Tiola J^[l IIJDX- 
48. UmbeUifera 1^ ^. 

44. Xanthoxylon |^ ^ ||S{' 



o 




INDEX. 



Actors, 103. 

Admiral Uo, 4, 7, 8, 15, 20. 

Adobe buiidiog, 178. 

Adoption, 89. 

AleurUes vernicia, 139, 178, 251, 

286, 293, 303. 
AmphitheatrM, 252, 257. 
Animals, 210. 
287. 



Banyan, 205. 

Barrenness, 77, 124, 120, 148, 156, 

163. 
Behaviour, good, 59, 69, 81, 206, 

258. 
Behaviour, bad, 211-12. 
BehaTiour, indifferent, 112, 136, 

144, 181, 200. 258. 
Berries, 205, 253, 303. 
Birds, 2:i3. 
Birds, scarcity of, 66. 154, 198, 

212, 233. 256, 297. 
Birds, nuroerouK. 86, 99, 265. 
Blacksmiths, 135. 
BlakistoD*s narrative, 21, 113. 
Blasting. 265. 
Boats, official, 16. 
Boats, rig of, 2. 
Boats, red, 4. 15. 277. 
BoaU, elastic, 264. 
Boat-gear, 18, 23, 150, 2(i6. 
Brakes, 226. 
Brick tea, 211. 
Bridges, 133, 149, 171, 185, 249, 

250, 255, 257, 294, 296. 
Brine, use of, 224. 
Baokwheat, 295. 



Buffaloes, 172. 209, 225. 
Buffers, junk, 150. 
Building, 155. 
Burial ground, 16. 

Camphor-wood, 264. 

Candles, 253. 

Carriers' load, 222. 

Carriem' baskeU, 258. 

CatUe, 144 5, 255. 

Cauls of pigs, 94. 

Cave-dwellings, 60, 85, 111, 166, 

176. 2C0. 204, 231. 257. 
Cement, manufacture, 6. 180. 
Chair ooolies, 246, 279. 283. 
Chanff Hsien-tsung, 7» 96, 175, 

184 
Charooai, 145. 258. 266. 
Cheng-an eitj, 136. 
Chernes, 248, 256. 
Chinese names for boat gear, 23. 
Christiana, 286. 
Chungking, trade of, 74. 
Chungking, size of, 124 5. 204. 
Chungking, history of, 201-3. 
Clans, 284, 292, 297. 
Climate, 201. 
Clothes, value of, 133. 
Coal, consumption of, 183. 
Coal, 16. 33. 69. 88, 95, 103, lOtt, 

109, 125. 139, 181, 189, 191, 

195, 247, 256. 
Coal marts, 53, 55, 169, 182. 
Coal, prices of, 182, 183, 231, M5, 

247, 258. 263, 269, 278. 
Coal, mines, veotiiation of, 192, 

245. 



II 



IISDEX -Continued. 



Coal, anthracite, 263. 

Coal, soft, 263. 

Cocoons, use for old, 85-6. 

Coffins, cementinpf, 114. 

Coke, 183, 269, (see charcoal). 

Collision spars, 12. 

Coracles, 264. 

CormorantB, 233, 270. 

Cost of living, 134, 145, 191, 230, 

288. 
Cotton, 63, 68, 97, 296. 
Cotton imports, 63, 64. 
Cotton goods, foreign, 258. 
Criminals, 148. 
Crops, 300. 
Cuckoo, 53, 95, 212. 
Cultivation, all in patches, 254. 
Cupboards, 151. 
Current, rate of, 12, 157. 

Dam, 228. 

Deer 297. 

Dialects 7, 19, 70, 200, 258. 

Dirt, 137. 

Distances, vagueness of, 140. 

Dogs, 196. 

Dress, 13. 

Drugs, 126, 285. 

Duck rearing, 256. 

Dyes, 123. 

Dysentery, cure for, 251. 

Eleococca verrucosa^ 6, 142, (see 

Alexirites)y 178. 
Elevation, 288. 
Executions, 152. 
Extortion, 135, 151-2. 

Fairs, 86, 89, 125, 207, 246. 
Fall of water, 162. 
Family-names, 284. 
Fans, bamboo, 98 ; rush, 214. 
Feet, squeezed, 84, 154, 249, 249, 

294. 
Feet, unsqueezed, 90. 
Feet, in process of squeezing, 287. 
Female labour, 135, 288. 
Female respectability, 288 90. 
Ferns, edible, 121. 
Fig-tree, 205. 
Fire-damp, 192. 
Fishing, 252, 270-1. 



, Flails, i08. 

I Floods, 190. 198. 

Flowers, 208. 

Flowers, artificial, 248. 
' Fog, 246. 
I Food, natives', 145. 
i F(»od, piprs', 253. 
I Food, buffaloes', 226. 

Foreign goods, absence of. 138. 
! Fortresses, hill, 187, 198, 257, 271. 
I Foxes, 82. 

i French missionaries. 147, 181, 193. 
I Fruit trees, 256, 285. 
' Fu Choii citv, 170. 
I Fuel, 260. 2iS6, 270. 
I Fu-shun City, 230-1. 
I Fu-shun River, 232. 
'; Future life, ideas of, 114-5. 

1 Gelder of pigs, 59. 
i Ghosts, 205. 

Giirs narrative, 21, 174. 216. 

Gleditschia sineimt^ 122. 

Goats, 262. 

Gorge, lohang, 5 ; Lukan, 9 ; Mi- 
tan, 12. 

Gorge, Kung-t'an River, 167, 161, 
169. 

Gorge, Hoh Chou River, 191, 192. 

Gorge, Sung-k*an River, 266. 

Grass cloths, 117. 

Grass fuel, 70. 

Grass plant, 119. 

Grinding: ^rain, 259. 

Gruel, 101. 

Gypsum, 231. 

Gypsum, uses of, 216. 



Hakkas, 7, 296. 

Harrows, 213-4. 

Hatching silkworms, 94- 

Hawsers, bamboo, 3, 8, 22. 

Height, 288. 

Hemp, 85, 118, 119. 

Hemp, cultivation of, 118. 217, 269 

Hoh Chou city. 67, 175, 199. 

Ho-kiang city, 238. 

Honesty, 139. 

Honey, 138, 293. 

Hot springs, 193. 

Houses, style of, 81, 200, 294. 

Hung-ch*uan, 4. 



l^sDEX-ContinutJ. 



Ill 



Hwang kwo trep, 250. 
Hydrophobia, 135. 

lohfing, 1, 301. 

Impressintc bouts, 236. 

IndiKo, 108, 210. 

I'.fanticide, 99. 

Ink, 135, 179. 

Inoi. 137, 141. 172.207. 216, 235, 

249, 26 , 281, 2K6 K, 290, 297. 
Intectfl, destructive, 2(59. 
Iron, 9-), 106. 128. 231, 247-8. 
Iron Works, 128. 26i), 206. 
Irri((ating uachiDes, 84, 123, 212, 

213. 

Jaandioe, cure for, 1?6. 
Jd'i-hwrti River ond District, 2J9. 
Jung-uh'an)^ city, 213-4. 
Junks, 158, 177, 188-9, 228, 2G9. 
Junks, cost of, ir>8. 
Junki, speed of, 114, 158, 16^ 
Junks, orooked-sternc'd, 158. 
Justice, 148, 151-2. 
Jute, 132. 

Ean-ihui town, 259. 
Eia-linf( River, 174. 
Kiang-k'ou town, 166, 244. 
Kiang-peh city, 112. 174. 
Kiang-tsing, or Kiiing-taze, 244. 
Kien-ihih citT, 290 
K*ien Kiung River. 157. 
K*i-kiang River, 239 209. 
K»i.kianif Dintrict, 253. 256. 
Kin Hhan Mount*tin. 128. 
K'ii flo River, 170, 20<J. 
Kuog-t*an River, 156. 
Kung-tsing, 227- 
K*wa.tftz Ch*uan (boat), 2. 
Kwaiig-ao city, 1U9. 
Kwei Chou Province, 241, 259. 
Kwei Chou city, 13. 
K»wei-chou Fu. 13, 28i). 
K*w«i Kwan, 13. 

Labour, female, 80. 

Lamps, safety, 192 

Lamp-wick icrasa, 98, 107, 248. 

Lamp-oil, 253. 

Land measurements, 115, 189. 

Laud, pruHts oo, 108. 



Land-tax, 88, 135, 249, 253. 266. 

Lund-tax, collection. 107. 129, 26L 

Lpaeefi of land, 89-90, 102-3, 116, 
189. 

Leopardj", 82, 252, 297. 

Lepers. 297. 

Licenses, 267. 

Life-bMnt«, 4 15, 277. 

Lime, 191, 193. 

Linie-kiliis, 245. 

LimeHtone, 149. 

Limestone Pass, 271. 

Liminfoo, 174. 

Lin-shui city. 111. 

Liqu(»rice '^.V2. 
: Literati, 254 5. 
j Li lri-cl»'6iij<. the rebel, 184. 

Livinu', cust of, 230, (see Cost of lir- 
in;^). 

Love-songs, 296. 

Lu Chou, 235. 
I Lu Chou, old city, 237. 

Lukan, gorge of, 9. 

Lung-ch'ang city, 217. 

Madness, cure for, 122. 

Magic lantern 106. 

Miize, 136. 293. 

Manners, Chinenp, 255. 

Jilan-t^z Tuwj.m, 85, 111. 166, 

176, 2(M». 204, 2:U, 1:57. 
Manure, 116, 179, 248. 
M.ip of route, 7. 
Mips, errors ot, 121, 116. 
Marines, 8, 15. 
M irionettes, U)4, lOG. 
•Marriages, 89. 
M^^asurts, 240-1, 245, 246. 
Medioiue» 216, (nee Drugs). 
Miio-t.-/., ir,6, 261, 264, 296. 
MilU, (^ee Oil, Sugar). 
Mill rsic.-s, 143. 
Mill Htones, 195. 
Min Kiant( River, 174. 
Mole huildiiig. lOi. 
Monuruenis, 205, 211. 
.Mohquitoeu, 91. 
\l'»*(juitoe», remedy for, 59. 
Mullnrry tree*, 61, 93, 1U3, 121, 

151 



Mulew, 2S7. 
Music, 2u9. 



IV 



INDEX— C<»ietm««(l. 



Massulmans, 85. 

Mu-tung;, port and Bub-distriot, 
113, 173. 

Names of places, 27. 
Names of boat-gear, 23. 
Names of families, 284. 
Nao-ohin, 5. 
NaQ-oh*uan city, 124. 
Nan-ob^uan city, faults of maps, 

123, 124, 253. 
Nautical phrases, 23. 
Navigation of rivers, 76. 
Newspapers, 235. 

Oaks, 93, 101, 145, 147, 254, 300, 

303. 
Oaks, silkworm, 130, 135, 154, 259, 

266. 
Official protection, 275, 280. 
Oil, Vung, 6, 130, 131, 139, 178, 179. 
Oil, rape, 113. 
Oil, vegetable, 253. 
Oilcake, 179, 192. 
Oil-factory, 180. 
Olives, 239. 
Opinm cultivation, 171, 206, 247, 

254. 
Opium, 77, 83, 88, 103, 109, 124, 

132, 136, 145, 147, 158, 164. 

170, 172 207, 247, 258-9, 295. 
Opium, Shen Si, 74. 
Opium, Ewei Chou, 153. 
Opium trade, 17 ', 209. 
Opium interest, 294. 
Opium taxation, 294. 
Orani^es, 244, 252, 256, 269, 271, 

295 
Otter fishing, 271. 

Pa Hien City, 174. 

Pans, iron, 106, 231, 236, 260, 270-1. 

Panthers, 297. 

Pao-ning city, 96. 

Paper, 121, 129, 134, 194, 251. 

Paper, writing, 107. 

Paper factory, 129, 193. 

Parricide cases, 237. 

Parsnips, 107. 

Pa-tung city, 294-5. 

Pa-tung city, 294-5. 

Pea-nuts, 63. 



P*^ng Chou city, 102. 

P»dng Shui city, 164. 

Persimmons, 295. 

Pigs, 214. 

Pigs' cauls, nee for, 94. 

Pigs' shoes, 117. 

Pigs' food, 21«». 

Pigs' bristles as manure, 248. 

Pigs' dead, eaten as food, 286. 

Pilots, 167, 168. 

P*ing-ahan Pa, 5. 

Pipes, 143. 

Plants, 304-8. 

Ploughs, 150, 213. 

Poisonous plants, 122. 252. 

Poles, before houses, 151. 

Police, absence of, 153. 

Folyyonumy 303. 

Puppy, (see Opium), uses of, 2('6, 

Population, 70, 135, 139, 154. 
Popular characteristics, 294, 297, 

299. 
Portals, 205, 211. 
Potash, 120, 178. 
Potatoes, 288. 
Potteries, 55, 120, 214. 
Priests, Buddhist, 184. 
Priests, French, 147, 181. 
Proverbs, 91. 
Public spirit. 171. 
Pulse, 122, 149, 210. 
Puns, 198. 

Quarryingr, 250. 
Querns, 2o9. 

Rabbits, 196. 

Rape, 208. 

Rapids, Siao-lu Chio and Ta-la 

Chio, 7 ; Kwa Dung, 8. 
Rapids, Hsin or Ch*ing-t*an, 10, 

20; Yeh T*an, 16. 
Rapids, Kung-t'an River, 157, 

161, 162, 166 ; Yang-kwo-ch'i, 

167. 
Rapids, Hoh Chou River, 190. 
Rapids, Native opinion on, 20. 
Rapids, Fushun River, 233. 
Rapids, Upper Yangtsze, 238, 243, 

276. 
Rapids, K'i-kiang River, 267-8. 



IM)EX-Cr^i<i»iiW. 



V 



RebelB. 7, 90, 175. 184-6. 198. 267. 

K«heUtoo, Great. 8z-oh*uaD, 186. 

Retervoirs, 85, 116. 

Reiin, 114. 

RespeotabilitT, 288-293. 

Kioe. 165, 250. 

Rice, cultivation, 55, 115, 900. 

Kioe, eopfluroption, 190. 

Rice, huUiDK of, 250, 259. 

Rioe, priceK <'f, 165. 

RichncNS of land, 206. 

Riff of boaU. 3. 159. 

River, Upper Yan»ctBZ<», 241-3. 

RtvcrB, unnaTit<able, 243. 

River, T'unif-oh*uaii, 76. 

River Fuhhun, K*i-kiaofr, &o. (See 

under thnfte nnmen. &c.) 
Rnadi. 2:>(), 29 ). 294-5. 
Rocki. 121. 149, 169. 
Rfllert, frictiou, 14. 
Ropeii, 266. 
Jiulhii, or * berry,' 303. 

Saffron, 101. 

Saffron trade, 66, 103. 

SaiU, up and down rupidi, 22. 

8alt, ci>niiiimption of, 69, 160, 260, 

287, 292. 
Salt, prodijcii'm of. 71. 81, 177, 194. 
Salt welli. 72. 76, 83. 88. 100, 

204. 221, 2t>2. 
Salt wiireiious«-8. 113, 170. 
Salt, priota of, 130, 146, 164, 209, 

218, 265, 209, 292. 
Salt revenue, 196. 
S^lt tax, 190. 
8«lt boiling, 222. 
Salt pan, 255, 265. 
Saltpetre, 241. 
Sandatoue, 121, 149. 169. 
Soeoery, 110. 141. 209. 
Scenery, obaracteriitioa, 262, 257, 

269. 
Sohoola, 90, 139. 
Sculpture, 171, 197. 
Shan-tow-pien, 8. 
Shao-Sbdn-fu, 3. 
Sheepskin a, 13. 
Shih Ta-k*ai, the rebel, 198. 
Shipbuildiog, 67, 199. 
Shirtinga, native, 97, 106. 
Shoee, fur piga, aod cowi, 117. 



Shoea, straw, 120, 131, 164. 

Shrines, 144. 

8hun-k*ing city, 104 ; river, 200. 

Si.oh'ungcity. 102. 

Silk, 61, 76, 77, 83, 130, 136, 

256, 262. 
Rilk maohiDe^ 78, 83. 
Silk dealers, 91. 
Silk, qualities of, 91-2, 96. 
Silk, prices, 96. 
Silk, wild. 202. 
Silkworms, ViO, 154. 
Silkworm hatchinir. 94. 137. 
Silkworm oak, 93. 130, 136, 136, 

164, 259, 202. 
Sinjtinif. 21H5. 
Srow. 128 

S^tphnra Jnpnnica^ 123. 
SitnJnun, 2<>0. 

SpinnioK, 98, 106. 107, 123, 207. 
StAf^es, or t'ungt 56. 
Steamers, in the ^orires, 6, 17 ; in 

the rapids, 12, 14, 17. 
S(«rni/ia, 303. 
8t»ckades, hill, 187, 198. 
Sugar roanufHCture, 186. 
Sui-ning city, 69. 
Sulphur, 126, 241. 
SuDg'Ch'i town, 242-3. 
Sun(;-k*an ^^wn, 265. 
Sunrise, 2$K3. 
Superslitjuns, 140. 
Sweeps, (boat), 11, 22, 160, 266, 

270. 

Ta-k'wan, the term, 7. 
T»ai-ho Mart, 73. 
Tallow tree, 253, 288, 303. 
Taotai, northern, 97. 
TaoUi, central, 236. 
TaoUi, weaUrn, 236. 
Taro, 62. 

Tare, astringent, 239. 
Taxea, 195. 

Taxes, land, (see Land-tax). 
Tea, 113, 124-5, 164, 251. 
Tea, treea, 121, 251. 
Teak, 149, 156. 
Temperature, 120, 151, 301. 
Templea, 187, 197. 
Threshing, 144. 
rigera, 252. 



^ 



VI 



INDEX— (7o/ihnu«c/. 



Tillage, ino^ssant, 68. 

Timber, 117, 131. 199. 

Timber, prices of, 199. 

Tobacco, 67, 68, 95, 97, 108, 241. 

Tobacco, cultivation, 67« 62, 241. 

Tobacco, water-pipe, 102. 

Torrents, 282. 

Torture, 152. 

Trackers, 7, 9, 18, 160. 

Trackers, pay of, 18. 

Trade, 199, (see Salt, Cotton, Silk, 

Opium, &o.) 
Traveller's Vade Mecum, 4, 9, 20. 
Travellinf? boats, Hiring, 1, 236, 

268, 276. 
Tsz-liu Chins:, 221. 
Tsz-t'ung District, 263. 
T*ang-ch*uan city, 77. 

Varnish, 122, 179. 291. 
Varnish trees, 129. 142, 164. 
Vermin, 87, 172, 198. 
Villages, 173. 
Vines, 210. 

Wages, 134. 

Walls of cities, 239. 

Water buffaloes, 1 72, 209, 226. 

Water conduits, 121. 124. 

Water storage, 85, 116. 

Water-wheels 124, 143. 

Wax-tree, 68, 97, 142. 



Weaving, 123, 207. 

Weights and measures, 182. 

Wells, Salt, (see salt wells). 

Wdn-ch»ang District. 263. 

Wheat. 107. 132. 136, 206. 

Wheat, price of, 107. 

Whirlpools, 288, 276. 

Widows. 249. 

WindUss, 226. 

Winds, in gorges, 6, 263. 

Winds, in mountains. 287. 

Wine, 170. 219-20, 242. 

Wizards, 144. 

Women, 249-60. 294. 

Women, sale of, 99. 

Women landlords, 288. 

Wood, for bows, 122, (see timber). 

Wu-lung city, 166. 

Wrecks, 14, 192. 

Wu-cb*uaD city, 146-6. 

Yams, 101. 
Yang-tsz, SOI. 
Yang-tsz, depth of, 15. 
Yang-tsz, flooding of, 7. 
Yang-tsz rise of, 14. 
Yarn, 210. 
Yen-t*ing city, 82. 
Yoh-ch*ih city, 107. 
Yun Nan, meaning of, 246. 
Yung-ch'uan city, 221.